Museo Del Castillo De San Jorge

Bit of a hidden gem here, was really cool to see the excavated ruins of the castle and getting to learn about the sordid history of the inquisition Museum is currently undergoing some renovations that unfortunately have knocked a lot of the video elements of the museum offline. The good news is the museum is free because of that. Still would recommend taking a visit. Some of the parallels to modern events (especially as an American) are unfortunately all too uncanny...

It’s a shame that in Sevilla, the center of the Inquisition (a famous, incredibly significant event of religious persecution), the best that the only museum claiming to represent the Inquisition can offer is ~3 paragraphs vaguely referencing its atrocities alongside dozens of elaborate gilt Catholic artworks. Very strange juxtaposition. Not at all what I was expecting, but at least it was free.

We came across this museum and decided to enter since it was free. We found it kind of odd. You walk through the prison cells where people were tortured, then you walk through a bizarre display of catholic relics. The message was "We tortured and murdered people and look at how much wealth we have."

Located right next to the mercado, I was very disappointed at the lack of information provided from this museum about the tragedy and horrors so many jews had to endure for their beliefs. A short "video" gave some insight and avialable in English. There was more displays of catholic religious materials than information regarding the inqusition which was very ironic given what had happened here. So much more can be done to make this a much more informative visit. Following is an excerpt from Rick Steve's Spain guidebook which can offer more insight into the matter " In the summer of 1391, smoldering anti-Jewish sentiment flared up in Sevilla. On June 6, Christian mobs ransacked the city's Jewish Quarter (Juderfa). Approximately 4,000 Jews were killed, and 5,000 Jewish families were driven from their homes. The former Juderia eventually became the neighborhood of the holy cross- Barrio Santa cruz. Synagogues were stripped and transformed into churches. Sevilla's uprising spread through Spain (and Europe), the first of many nasty pogroms during the next century. Before the pogrom, Jews had lived in Sevilla for centuries as the city's respected merchants, doctors, and bankers. They flourished under the Muslim Moors. After Sevilla was "liber- ated" by Kina Ferdinand l(1248), Jews were given protection by Castile's kings and allowed measure Of self-government, though they were confined to the Jewish neighborhood. But by the 14th century, Jews were increasingly accused of everything from poisoning wells to ritually sacrificing Christian babies. Mobs killed suspected Jews, and some of Sevilla's most espected Jewish citizens had their fortunes confiscated. After 1391. Jews were forced to make a choice: Be persecuted (even killed), relocate, or convert to Christianity. The newly Christianized-called conversos (converted) or marranos (swine)-were constantly under suspicion of practicing their old faith in private, and thereby undermining true Christianity. Fanning the mistrust were the perceptions of longtime Christians, who felt threatened by this new social class of converted Jews, who now had equal status. To root out the perceived problem of underground Judaism, the "Catholic Monarchs," Ferdinand and Isabel, estab- lished the Inquisition in Spain (1478). Under the direction of Grand Inquisitor Tomás de Torquemada, these religious courts arrested and interrogated conversos suspected of practicing Judaism. Using long solitary confinement and torture, they extracted confessions. On February 6, 1481, Sevilla hosted Spain's first auto-da-fé ("act of faith"), public confession and punishment for heresy. Six accused conversos were paraded barefoot into the cathedral. forced to publicly confess their sins, then burned at the stake. Over the next three decades, thousands of conversos were tried and killed in Spain. In 1492. the same year the last Moors were driven from Spain Ferdinand and Isabel decreed that all remaining Jews convert or be expelled, In what became known as the Sephardic Diaspora, Spain's Jews left mostly for Portugal and North Africa <many ultimately ended up in Holland). Spain emerged as a nation unified under the banner of Christianity."

This could have been five stars if the multimedia screens were working. Had to skip large parts but the information that was available was interesting and provided a good glimpse into the city's past. I found the part about the individuals who were put on trial by the Spanish inquisition the most interesting. Overall it's nice to see that they clearly spent some money to preserve this place. Entrance is free so no reason not to have a quick look inside.