Walk Through the Jewish Quarter and the Old Bullring

Tarazona is toured from bottom to top. From the bridge over the Queiles and the cathedral you climb to the Plaza de España, with the Renaissance facade of the Town Hall, and from there to the upper town: the narrow streets of the Jewish quarter, the houses hanging over the rock and the Episcopal Palace. You return downhill towards the old bullring, one of the most curious complexes in Aragón.

The Route

1. Plaza de España and Town Hall. It was built between 1557 and 1563 leaning on the wall, as a market hall with a gallery for watching bulls and processions, and by the mid-17th century it was already the council house. Its facade has a long plaster frieze with the procession of Charles V after his coronation in Bologna in 1530, with cannons, squires, the triumphal arch and the emperor and the pope under a canopy. At the bottom, three heroic figures linked to the city's legendary founding, usually identified as Hercules and Cacus.
2. The Jewish quarter. Climb by Calle Rúa Alta and the lanes of the Old and New Jewish quarters, winding and steep, with houses leaning out over the void.
3. The Episcopal Palace and the church of La Magdalena. The palace occupies the old Muslim zuda, bought by Bishop Pedro Pérez Calvillo in 1386; its great gallery rests on brick arches over the Queiles. Beside it, La Magdalena, in the Cinto district, with its Mudéjar tower.
4. The old bullring. Go down to this complex of 1790-1792: an octagonal ring of 1,465 m² surrounded by 32 homes, built by eight well-off neighbours who wanted rental houses and a share of the bullfighting business. It held about 5,500 people when Tarazona had fewer than 9,000 inhabitants. The last old-style bullfight was in 1868 and today the houses are still inhabited.

Allow an hour and a half at an easy pace. Wear comfortable shoes: there are slopes and steps.

Before You Go

The walk along the street is free and open to all. The old bullring is a residential space: respect those who live there and do not enter the doorways. To see the palace inside, see the page for the Episcopal Palace, with dungeons and noble area. The Fundación Tarazona Monumental publishes a Jewish quarter route that includes places in the cathedral related to the Jewish community; ask about it at the tourist office.

If you are sleeping in the city, the Hotel Encanto Tarazona is in the Plaza de España itself, opposite the Town Hall, a good starting point.