Museums and Palaces

Sephardic Memorial and Documentation Centre of Bragança

The Sephardic Memorial and Documentation Centre is a facility that complements and interacts with the Interpretation Centre for the Sephardic Culture of the Nordeste Transmontano, a physical and virtual space for the reunion of a society that wants to know the past. The exhibition circuit focuses on religious practice and family and community life, and is essentially didactic in nature: daily experiences are at the centre of what is intended to be transmitted.

The tour begins with a welcome at a small synagogue (-1 floor), thus reconstituting the space of Jewish religious worship, which is open to visitors to practice some of the rituals. Alongside the religious dimension, the exhibition dimension provides information about the synagogue itself, the nature of the meeting and the community, its rhythms and religious calendar and the centrality of the Sacred Text, the Torah.

The place of women, rites and festivals are also addressed (1st floor), with an emphasis on everyday, family gestures and rites. Videos show re-enactments of Sephardic rituals.

On the top floor (2nd floor), there is an archive of memories and an online documentation centre, which helps reflection and research around the Sephardic presence in the Bragança region, documented since the 15th century. All residents and descendants of Sephardic Jews from the Bragança region can here give their testimony and deposit memories, both material and textual.