This lovely town stands above the Drava River, just 25 km from Maribor and is the oldest town in Slovenia, occupying a site that has been inhabited since prehistoric times. Jews are known to have lived in Ptuj from at least 1286, when a house was sold to a Jakob and his wife Gnanna for forty silver marks. Four Christians and four Jews were listed as witnesses to the sale. The town had a Jewish judge (Andre Walher) in 1333. A town statute of 1376 dealt with the rights and position of Jews in the town. In addition to mentioning the Jewish judge, it forbade Jews from running taverns or engaging in trade. The law also regulated moneylending, the principal activity of Ptuj Jews. Judengasse is first mentioned in 1344. Christians also lived there at this time and was last mentioned as a Judengasse in 1429, then known as Allerheiligengasse (All Saints Street) in 1441, indicating that most Jews may have left Ptuj by this time. The site of the street is a rather wide but sharply bending thoroughfare named Jadranska leading towards the river from the main square. The buildings on Jadranska Street are mostly two-storey dwellings with 17th, 18th and 19th-century façades in pastel colors. Former synagogue was turned into All Saints Church around 1441 or earlier. This church can be seen in a 1766 painting of the town by Franz Josef Fellner, but by 1786 it, too had gone. In 1840, the site became residential. Jadranska 9: Regional Museum Dating from 1303, the well-preserved gravestone of Asher David Bar Moshe is displayed in the Ptuj Regional Museum. It is a massive upright rectangular block, sitting on a pedestal-like base with the epitaph framed by a raised border. It is possible that it was reworked from a Roman grave monument. An iron ring is embedded on top of the stone. Also displayed in the museum are fragments of half a dozen other old gravestones with well-defined inscriptions. The Institute for the Conservation of the Natural and Cultural Heritage also houses a fragment of a Jewish gravestone, found in 1994 during rescue excavations in the foundations of a 17th-century Capuchin monastery outside the town (this is now the site of a car park). The stone, about 40cm x 25cm x 15cm, had been used as building material.
Muzejski Trg 1
SI-2250 Ptuj
Slovenia
+386 (0) 2 787 9230
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www.pok-muzej-ptuj.si
"Only the tombstone of Asher David Bar Moshe, dating from 1303 and on display at the Provincial Museum, exists. Other stones on display include a fragment found in the foundation of a 17th century Capuchin monastery in 1994." Source: Jewish Monuments in Slovenia. Gruber, Ruth Ellen and Samuel D. Jewish Heritage Research Center: November 1996. The US Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad.
UPDATE: Museum is at Muzejski Trg 1, SI-2250 Ptuj, Slovenia. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.pok-muzej-ptuj.si. The well-preserved 1303 gravestone of Asher David bar Moshe is "a massive upright rectangular block, sitting on a pedestal-like base with the epitaph framed by a raised border. It is possible that it was reworked from a Roman grave monument. An iron ring is embedded on top of the stone. Also displayed in the museum are fragments of half a dozen other old gravestones with well-defined inscriptions. The Institute for the Conservation of the Natural and Cultural Heritage also houses a fragment of a Jewish gravestone, found in 1994 during rescue excavations in the foundations of a 17th-century Capuchin monastery outside the town (this is now the site of a car park). The stone, about 40cm x 25cm x 15cm, had been used as building material." Source. [January 2009]
Overlooking the Drava River and 25 km from Maribor, Ptuj is the oldest town in Slovenia, a site inhabited since prehistoric times. Jews lived in Ptuj since at least 1286: a house is documented as sold to a Jakob and his wife Gnanna for forty silver marks with four Christians and four Jews listed as witnesses to the sale. A Jewish judge in 1333 named Andre Walher lived in the town. A 1376 town statute regarding with the rights and position Ptuj Jews mentioned the Jewish judge, forbade Jews from running taverns or engaging in trade, and regulated moneylending (the principal activity of Ptuj Jews). The Ptuj "Judengasse", first mentioned in 1344, also had Christians living there. Last mentioned as a Judengasse in 1429, the street name was already Allerheiligengasse (All Saints Street) by 1441, indicating that most Jews may have left Ptuj by then. Today a rather wide but sharply bending thoroughfare named Jadranska, it leads down towards the river from the main square from a tall 2nd-century Roman funeral monolith in front of a graceful bell tower. Jadranska Street buildings are mostly two-story with 17th, 18th and 19th -century pastel-colored façades. The former synagogue at Jadranska 9 turned into All Saints Church by 1441 can be seen in a 1766 painting by Franz Josef Fellner. Gone by 1786, in 1840, the site became residential.
[January 2009]
25 km to the south of Maribor. ‘David son of Moses' is mentioned in records in 1103. [January 2009]