The study of documents preserved at the State Archives in Cagliari and the Crown of Aragon Archives in Barcelona has enabled the reconstruction of a period, between 1323 and 1492, during which, with the arrival of the Catalan-Aragonese, Jewish communities settled in Castello following the infante Alfonso of Aragon. The real Jewish quarter of Cagliari, which has nothing of the future gated ghetto established from 1516 in Venice, was actually an open ward that was formed from 1344, developed around a group of houses already inhabited by Pisan Jews and located between Rua de’ la Fontana and Rua de’ Orifayn. The Giudaria of Cagliari went on to extend over time throughout the entire Via della Fontana, to go up to the defensive walls of Castello, in the side alleys, until reaching, around 1360, the Torre del Leone, near the Vicaria Regia and, in the time of King Peter IV, up to the Via dell’Uva and the Tower of San Pancrazio. In this neighborhood reserved for Jews, no “material” evidence of their passage remains, but the study of documents makes it possible to reliably reconstruct their history and the life of the Jewish community, known as the aljama, which inhabited those streets for two centuries. The Cagliarialjama reached its peak in the first half of the 15th century, when it reached 1000-2000 units and the Juharia, that is, their neighborhood, occupied one third of Castello. One of the oldest buildings was the synagogue, but there was also the area of gardens and vineyards and stores where kosher wine was sold and the meat market area and the bakery. The edict of expulsion, issued in 1492 by the Catholic kings of Castile, forced the Jews of Cagliari (who had already long been persecuted with restrictions and abuse, such as the obligation to wear the distinctive sign: the red or yellow wheel) to suffer the most severe hardship: perpetual exile or abjuration. Most left. Their possessions were sold at public auctions. Deprived of their possessions and with anguish in their hearts about their future they emigrated to Istanbul, Tunis and Livorno.
