Jewish Heritage Cultural Tour

Culture and History tour in Castelo de Vide, Lisbon, Tomar, Porto, Belmonte, Marvo

Tour Price : €200-2000 Duration : 1-4 days Languages: French, Portuguese, English, Spanish

Medieval Jewish History and Sites in Portugal

Culture and History tour in Lisbon, Belmonte , Tomar, Castelo de Vide

The history of the Jews comunity in Portugal are vary old and very interesting.

We have 5 towns in Portugal, where you can see synagogues and madieval districts of Jews: Lisbon, Porto, Belmonte, Tomar and Castelo de Vide.

Since the end of the Roman Empire that a Jewish minority existed in the territory that later became Portugal.

When founding of the nation, in 1143, this minority was already widespread in some important places like Santarém who owned the oldest national synagogue.

The Jewish population increased, favored with the need that the first kings (XII century) felt to populate the territory that was being conquered from the Moors.

In all places where the number of Jews exceeded the dozen, a commune or aljama whose organizational center was the synagogue was created. Your bell called the faithful not only to prayer but also to provide them with any information coming King or any decision taken by the chief rabbi. The synagogue was the seat of the commune government...

Today most of the Madieval Jews districts are World Haritage of UNESCO.

There is no place in the world where you won’t be able to find a Jewish community. Portugal is a good example for that, in spite of the fact that Sephardic Heritage in Portugal is known to very few people. Sephardi Jews are the descendants of Portuguese-Spanish Jews, who used to live on the Iberian Peninsula before they were exiled from there due to the Alhambra Decree. As the matter of fact the Jewish Sephardic community was flourishing up till the 15th century, but unfortunately the expulsion of Jews from Spain had a bad impact on the community.

You will definitely enjoy the tour, especially if you are interested in history or have Jewish roots. This way you will have an opportunity to learn the history of the Jewish people in Portugal and the events that made it possible to establish the Cripto-Jewish communities. As your private guide in Lisbon I will help you uncover one of the most intriguing secrets of Portugal – the secret of Sephardic Jews on the Iberian Peninsula.

The tour is unique and you won’t find much information on that topic in guidebooks. By the end of our private tour you will learn a lot about the culture and history of the Sephardic Jews. You will discover several most important features of this people, their traditions, characteristics and way of life and specially, their impact on Portuguese history and culture. .

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