Kahal Zur Israel Synagogue

Located on a historic street in old Recife, this is regarded as the oldest synagogue in the Americas, founded by the Jewish community during the brief Dutch rule of the seventeenth century. After the Portuguese reconquest the congregation dispersed, many settling in New Amsterdam. Archaeological work uncovered the original ritual bath beneath the site, and the building now serves as a museum of this early Jewish presence. Its restoration lights a little-known chapter on the Rua do Bom Jesus.