The Judiaria de Castelo Branco was the medieval Jewish quarter of the city, located inside the old walled area, close to the castle and the northern section of the walls. Its safest urban references are Rua D’Ega and the northern stretch of today’s Rua da Misericórdia, from the intersection with Rua D’Ega.

The medieval Judiaria de Castelo Branco

The documentation places the Jewish community within the intramural centre of Castelo Branco before the end of the fifteenth century. In 1473, during the reign of King Afonso V, the Jewish commune received authorization to expand its occupied area by urbanizing and inhabiting streets connected to the street where it was already established.

This royal authorization is one of the clearest documentary signs of the growth of the Judiaria de Castelo Branco. It shows that the Jewish quarter was not only a remembered urban tradition, but a legally recognized communal space whose limits had become insufficient for the local Jewish population.

Urban traces and cautious interpretation

Historical reconstruction associates the quarter with Rua D’Ega, Rua da Misericórdia, Rua do Caquelé and Travessa da Rua do Muro. These streets belonged to the old intramural fabric of Castelo Branco, near the medieval defensive line and close to the main movement routes of the town.

Some local heritage interpretation also connects architectural traces in this area with Jewish presence, including marks identified on doorways and the possible location of a synagogue. These identifications should be treated with caution, since the strongest evidence for the Judiaria de Castelo Branco remains documentary and urban, rather than archaeological.

New Christians and Inquisition records

After the forced conversion of Portuguese Jews in 1497, the medieval Jewish commune disappeared as a legal institution. The later history of Jewish origin families in Castelo Branco is documented mainly through New Christian lineages and Inquisition records.

Between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, hundreds of proceedings were opened against people born in or living in Castelo Branco, many connected to accusations of Judaism. The Casa da Memória da Presença Judaica preserves this later memory through documentation, interpretation and a memorial to Albicastrense victims persecuted or killed for reasons connected with their religious identity.

Figures connected to Castelo Branco

Castelo Branco is also linked to important figures of Jewish and New Christian history. Afonso de Paiva, born around 1443, was sent by King João II with Pêro da Covilhã to gather information on eastern routes. Amato Lusitano, born João Rodrigues de Castelo Branco in 1511, became one of the leading physicians of the sixteenth century. Elias Montalto, born in Castelo Branco in 1567, later became physician to Maria de’ Medici and belonged to the wider Sephardic intellectual world of early modern Europe.