Cross-shaped motifs
Belmonte
Belmonte
In Rua do Inferno and other locations in the Village, one sees cross-shaped motifs on the doorposts. According to some researchers, the cross-shaped marks in Jewish quarters were a way of the crypto-Jews saying “we are Christians now” and thus avoid being persecuted by the Inquisition. Others put forward the hypothesis that the cross was used to purify a space considered heretical, as would be the case, for example, of a house where Jews had lived.
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