Calle Susona

You are in one of the narrowest lanes of the old Jewish quarter. Look carefully and you will find, on one wall, a tile panel that speaks of a severed head. It is a reminder of the saddest story in the Santa Cruz quarter.

1What the chronicles say

In 1480 the Inquisition began operating in Seville, set up to pursue converted Jews suspected of still practising Judaism. Some wealthy converts in the city then tried to organise resistance. The chronicler Andrés Bernáldez, who lived through those years, records that after the first auto-da-fé, held in February 1481, several of Seville's richest men were burned, among them Diego de Susán.

2What the legend says

Tradition adds his daughter, known as Susona and famous for her beauty. In love with a Christian knight, she overheard the conspirators' plans at home and, to protect her lover, revealed them. The plot failed and her father died at the stake.

According to the legend, Susona asked that after her death her head be hung above the door of her house, as a punishment and a warning.

The skull is said to have stayed there for many years, and the street was long known as Calle de la Muerte, Death Street. Since the 19th century it has borne Susona's name. No source from the time mentions the daughter: her story is tradition.

3What to look for

• The tile panel telling the legend, dated in Roman numerals MCDLXXXI: 1481.
• The width of the street: this is how the lanes of the old Jewish quarter looked.
• The tiled street signs bearing Susona's name.