ABSTRACT
The Portuguese synagogue complex on what is now the Jonas Daniël Meijerplein, ceremonially consecrated in 1675, was the work of architect, builder and master mason Elias Bouman. Tourists of the time gasped at its beauty and were astonished at the openness with which Judaism could be practised in the Dutch Republic. The Portuguese Jews were hugely proud of their new house of prayer and hung pictures of it on the walls of their homes. Their beautiful synagogue, which survived the Second World War unscathed, still commands admiration.
