Sahar Hassamaim Hebrew Museum – Gates of Heaven (Synagogue)

The Sahar Hassamaim Hebrew Museum – Gates of Heaven was inaugurated on 23rd April 2015, after restoration and adaptation works in what was the former Sahar Hassamaim Synagogue, founded on 21st December 1836 by a group of Jews from the Kingdom of Morocco (North Africa).

The Museum has four visitable rooms: the Mikeve, the former ritual baths area; the Space of Memories, dedicated to the cultural and historical legacies of the Hebrew presence in the Azores archipelago, with an emphasis on two moments – firstly, the presence of Jews and/or New Christians in the islands in the 15th and 16th Centuries, and secondly, the Jews coming from North Africa from 1818 onwards; the Room of Memories, in relation to the Albo sisters and the decay of the building that houses the Synagogue; finally, the Sahar Hassamaim Synagogue, with its inherent legacies.

The Museum also has a Library and Archive, which, for organisational reasons, are closed to the public.