Archaeologists have found the remains of a medieval synagogue under a nightclub in Spain, only five such finds are known in the country.. According to Live Science, this is a unique evidence of Jewish religious life in medieval Spain..

Archaeologists first explored the area in 2021 after discovering a description left by a 17th-century priest and historian named Rodrigo Caro. In 1604, Caro described Utrera, a municipality in southwestern Spain near Seville, as a place where until that time "

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The synagogue was built in the 1300s and probably survived the expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492.. According to the head of the excavations, Miguel Angel de Dios, it was reused and completed over the years..

Anti-Jewish sentiment in Spain grew throughout the 12th and 13th centuries, but at the end of the 14th century a wave of violence against the Jews culminated in the massacre of 1391.. According to scientists, about 50 thousand Jews died then, after which about half a million converted to Catholicism to avoid persecution..

A century later, King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella issued the Alhambra Decree of 1492 to expel all remaining Jews from Spain.. Their goal was to curb the influence of practicing Jews on those who converted to Christianity after the 1391 massacre.. In doing so, they fulfilled a goal long pursued by Thomas de Torquemada, Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition, who feared that the Jews had polluted the blood and that superficial converts from Judaism were a threat to Catholic religious and social life..

The Utrera Synagogue is a rare example of medieval Jewish religious life in Spain.. Mayor Jose Maria Villalobos called the find "

Archaeologists managed to restore the main parts of the synagogue complex, including the purgatory with the ark, where the sacred Torah scrolls were kept. Now researchers are trying to determine where the mikvah was located - a ritual bath. In addition, they hope to find a rabbi's house and a rabbinic school..

Previously, archaeologists found an ancient sarcophagus in a 2,000-year-old Roman necropolis in the Gaza Strip. The necropolis is located on the coast, 500 meters from the sea.