"The Alchemist’s daughter. A Jewish tale of the old ghetto of Barcelona" Remembering Barcelona's old jewish district

In 1391 the Jewish districts in most Catalan cities were attacked. Many of its inhabitants were forced to convert to Christianity or were killed. Barcelona’ghetto was never rebuilt.

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"The Alchemist’s daughter. A Jewish tale of the old ghetto of Barcelona" is an illustrated book adapted to everyone who wants to bring the reader to the life and customs of the medieval Jewish Catalan districts, the Calls. Through this little story the reader will experience the life of Barcelona’sCall, discover what it meant being a Jew in the Middle Ages in the city of Barcelona, while learning how to read different parts of the city.

"The Alchemist’s daughter” is a story that wants to recover the memory of Catalan medieval Judaism: it is not only a legend, but it is the living witness of a past that struggles to be remembered; a window into a world unknown but sometimes very much ours, an imprint of our memory, the witness of a rich legacy that must be preserved.

The book, based on a legend collected by Joan Amades, and  still alive in Barcelona’s Jewish district, tells the story of a Jewish house victim of a spell: The Alchemist's house.

 Through colourful illustrations, created exclusively for the project, historically documented and inspired in illuminated medieval Catalan Jewish manuscripts, the Catalan Haggadot, the reader delves into the atmosphere of the Jewish Quarter and into the life of some characters wich could have been real , Judith, Moshe and Arnau, the victims of fate that will lead to an impossible love and perhaps to fatality...

Both images and text combine to provide an experience linked to the memory of Catalan medieval Judaism, making tangible the intangible city’s heritage.

Technical data:

Title: "The Alchemist’s daughter. A Jewish tale of the old ghetto of Barcelona

Text and drawings: Sylvia Angelet

Illustrated book for heritage teaching  

58 pages, colour illustrations

Bilingual Book: English-Hebrew, Catalan Hebrew also available (Spanish -hebreu version in progress)

Historically documented book

Illustrations inspired in illuminated Hebrew Catalan manuscripts, the Catalan medieval Haggadot.

It includes a map of Barcelona’s Jewish district and a glossary about medieval Judaism

Now available on iBookstore