Where do you think the narrowest street in Spain is located? Literally, it could be anywhere. And is the narrowest public road in the country really that much more limited in breadth than all the others? Read on to find out.
In actual fact, to walk down the narrowest thoroughfare in Spain – that’s if you manage to fit down it – you’d have to travel to the old Jewish Quarter of the town of Hervás, which is located north of the province of Cáceres in Extremadura.
And at just half a metre, yes, only 50cm wide, the Travesía del Morón, Travesía del Moral or the Callejón del Moral, as the road is also referred to, is the ‘thinnest’ yet one of the most intriguing streets in the country.
To locate it exactly, you’ll find it between the numbers 3 and 5 of the Calle Rabilero.
The history of Hervás dates back centuries. During the 12th century the Knights Templar built a hermitage there and from the 15th century families of Jews began to populate the area and make it their own until they were expelled in 1492. In fact, this Jewish quarter is one of the best maintained and preserved in the country, and well worth a visit.
They brought their own customs, traditions, style of cooking and even architecture, which is reflected in the mishmash of buildings, doorways, balconies and patios of all different shapes and sizes that sit together with wine presses, wine cellars and synagogues.
In this particular area, a Jewish community whose inhabitants were dedicated to wine-making, textiles and business settled there, although they only stayed for just under a century.
And the way in which they constructed their living quarters in this area was in a peculiar, frantic and messy fashion. Each house was constructed adapting it to the way in which the land sat and then once all the houses were up, the surrounding streets were designed and built around them.
This is why the Travesía del Morón ended up measuring only 50cm wide.
Of course, the narrow street could have been blocked up and its entrance and exits hidden, which would have ensured that strong draughts of air, humidity or an accumulation of dirt were avoided, but they decided to keep the road for other reasons.
This was a time when Jews in Spain were being hounded and persecuted. All types of accusations were thrown at them and they were being blamed for anything and everything including wars, epidemics and economic crises.
A great number of communities of Jews began to flee southwards or to Portugal, which is how many of them ended up in Hervás. However, they could have been attacked at any time, which is why they needed quick escape routes down which they could disappear rapidly and without being detected. This is where the Travesía del Morón came in handy.
While the road itself is nothing special to look at in terms of what it contains or how it looks, the surrounding streets are. There were a lot of wealthy families that resided here and they made sure that they didn’t live in impoverished homes. Luxury houses and other types of grandiose buildings line the pretty, windy cobbled roads, giving a feel of what it was really like to live in a Jewish quarter in the 15th century.
And proof of their existence in the town is additionally made apparent today, particularly in some of the restaurants, whose dishes contain traces of Jewish influence.
Source: www.viajestic.atresmedia.com, www.elbigoteobsceno.com
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