This 4-hour private walking tour traces the history of Palma's Jewish community through the old town's two historic quarters, the Call Major and the Call Menor.
Starting at Plaza de la Reina, your guide introduces the history of Mallorca's Jewish community, which dates back to the period of Muslim rule on the island, known as the Medina Mallorca, from 902 to 1229. During this period, Jewish residents worked largely as tailors and traders and lived in the city's main commercial district. The Almudaina Arch, one of the original entrances to the old Muslim quarter, still stands today as a reminder of this era.
From there, you walk into the Call Mayor, the medieval Jewish quarter, where remnants of the Mont Sion Synagogue survive. You'll see the monument to Jafuda Cresques, the Mallorcan Jewish cartographer whose family produced the Catalan Atlas of 1375, one of the most detailed medieval maps of the known world. Local tradition holds that Columbus later drew on Majorcan cartography for his voyages, though the historical record connecting Cresques directly to Columbus is disputed rather than confirmed. You'll also walk Calle de les Escoles, where the community's Hebrew schools once stood, and pass streets named for the trades many residents practiced, including goldsmithing, medicine, and astronomy.
Your guide also covers the harder chapters of this history: the forced conversions of the Spanish Inquisition, the Xuetes, as Mallorca's converted Jews came to be known, and the social divide that split them into upper and lower classes. You'll see the former Inquisition jail in the Plaza Mayor and walk down toward El Borne, where converts were forced to publicly affirm their Catholic faith. If time allows, you can also step inside the Cathedral of Santa Maria to see its rose window, its geometric tracery often compared to the Star of David, alongside carved rimonim, the ornamental finials traditionally used on Torah scrolls.
Review Location- Palma de Mallorca 
