Museums

The Jewish Museum of Oportopresents four millennia of Jewish history around the world and nearly two millennia in the territory that is now Portugal. Valuable objects, documents, and films highlight not only the darkest chapters, such as the Edict of King D. Manuel and the Inquisition, but also the fundamental role of Jews in the foundation, development, and decline of Portugal after the expulsion and the Inquisition, as well as the return of the community in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

In addition to rooms that portray the community’s centuries-old history, the Museum includes a room displaying the film awards won by the community, a room on modern antisemitism, a room dedicated to Operation Yonatan (the Entebbe rescue), a wine cellar room with kosher Port wine, a cinema, and a memorial plaque listing the nearly 1,000 people from Oporto persecuted for Judaizing heresies.

The Holocaust Museum of Oporto is the only one of its kind on the Iberian Peninsula. Its displays include the files of Jewish refugees who came through Oporto in 1940 on transit visas. The Museum depicts Jewish life in Portugal before, during and after the Holocaust, has a replica of a dormitory at Auschwitz and a memory room with the names of the victims of Nazism. Its principal focus is on education, encouraging visits by schoolchildren from all over the country and training teachers.

The Jewish Museum and the Holocaust Museum of Oporto have received over 50,000 students per year from Portuguese schools since their founding, representing approximately 5% of Portugal’s youth population annually. All of this is carried out by the community without support from the Government or any public or private entities.

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