Sabugal Jewish Memorial House

Portrait of the Jewish presence in Sabugal.

Located in the Sabugal castle square, this museum equipment is in the building of the old Casa do Castelo. The explanatory panels in this two-story building demonstrate the link between this border region and the Jews and crypto-Jews (Jews supposedly Christians because they were baptised, but who professed the Jewish faith in secrecy), between the 15th and 18th centuries.

Testimony of the passage and of the settlement of Jewish families in the area in the 15th century, the Sabugal Jewish Memorial House provides an insight into the Jewish personalities who settled in this Portuguese municipality after being expelled from Spain in 1492.

From the archaeological pieces deposited here, particular emphasis should be placed to the closet that may have been used as Hejal (Aron Kodesh), where the religious vestments were kept, especially the Torah scroll, as witnessed João Lopes Nunes, an inhabitant of Sabugal, in one of the interviews he did in the Inquisition, in 1703.

The Memorial House has some graphical content accompanied by texts that are a reminder of the presence of Jewish communities in this ancient village. On the ground floor, you can see a documentary about the presence and life of the Jewish community of Sabugal, who received the Portuguese Association of Museology Film Award, in 2018.