The exit order of the jewish people of Portugal in the reign of D. Manuel in 1496 is one of the biggest political mistakes in the history of Portugal. With presence in Portugal since at least the  4th century A.C the jewish people were at the time relevant in the political, economic and scientific fields in Portugal. Relevant in the strategy and execution of the plan that led the Age of Discovery, relevant in terms of economics and finances, knowledgeable, their importance was underestimated when the expulsion happened.

Portugal’s jewish people, like Spanish ones, also called serphadi, from the hebwer Sefardi(Iberia), transferred their knowledge and capacity to various places around the globe, Holland, Belgium, England, Turkey, North Africa, that welcomed them and benefited from their knowledge and capacities.

Since the middle ages the jewish people have developed various activities.People like Pedro Nunes, that was a great mathematician; José Vizinho doctor of D. João II and also the person  that perfected the nautical astrolabe, a device to measure the position of the stars;Jehuda Cresques, recognized in making of the compass; Amato Lusitano ( João Rodrigues de Castelo Branco ) doctor, Garcia de Orta, also a doctor connected to tropical medicine, all these people and others left a mark in their time.

In Portugal they were integrated in various cities and villages. Sharing  and rediscovering the importance of the judaic heritage in the center mountain region that’s part of the collective identity of this region in a cultural, historical and social standpoint  is what we propose with the Route of the old jewries!

Vestiges of the jewish people’s culture  remain all over the country, from architecture to the urbanism of cities and villages, also in the toponymy, Rua da Judiaria, Beco do Judeu, Travessa da Sinagoga, etc.

During the second world war, the mountain region received the jewish people again. Persecuted they  reached Portugal through the border of Vilar Formoso, many with visas issued by Aristides Sousa Mendes.

Belmonte, Castelo de Vide, Trancoso, Guarda, Covilhã, Castelo Branco, Fundão and Tomar are some of the locations where you can still see the marks and symbolic inscriptions sculpted in the old jewish houses and verify traces of jewish culture and customs.