The Faro Jewish Cemetery is the only remaining vestige of the 1st post inquisition Jewish presence in Portugal!
Jews fled Portugal to escape the inquisition from the end of the XV Century. The Marquise de Pombal invited their descendants, traders and businessmen in Gibraltar and North Africa back to Portugal to help rebuild the economy after the devastating earthquake in 1755.  
They settled in Faro, and became a thriving 60 family community, locally known as "Little Jerusalem". They had 2 synagogues of which neither now remains. The community became defunct due to the migration of the young to the cities and the aged dying.
The land of the Cemetery was purchased by three community leaders, Joseph Sicsu the Chazan (cantor), Moises Sequerra and Samuel Amram in 1851. The Jewish calendar date 5638 (1887) above the entrance gates is thought to be when the wall was constructed. The first burial was that of Rabbi Joseph Toledano in 1838 and the last, Abraham Ruah in 1932. José Ruah, who died in the 1940’s, then looked after the cemetery. During the ensuing years it fell to total neglect, despite the efforts a number of concerned persons. One such person was Advocate Semtob Dreiblatt Sequerra, who actually came to a maintenance accord with the Faro Municipality. In return he donated the land for a school to the Municipality. The school was built, but the maintenance came to very little and the premises deteriorated. Sequerra was also responsible for ensuring that the furniture of the “rich” Synagogue in Rua Castilho was not lost when this property fell to the developers axe, enabling the furnishing of the new Isaac Bitton Synagogue Museum at the Cemetery 40 years later.
José and Lawrence Abecassis inventoried the graves in 1980 and the late Reverend Abraham Assor, then leader of the Comunidade Israelita de Lisboa, translated the inscriptions from Hebrew to Portuguese.
In 1984 Isaac “Ike” Bitton (native of Lisbon, then living in the USA, and sadly passed away 14 July 2006) and his brother Joseph went to Faro to visit their mother's birthplace. They found the cemetery in terrible disrepair and vowed to restore it to its former sacred glory as a memorial to the now defunct Faro Jewish community. On returning to the USA Bitton registered the Faro Cemetery Restoration Fund Inc. as a not for profit organisation. He raised funds, which he then deposited in trust with the Jewish Community of Lisbon.
In December 1991, Judith Pinto held a small Channukah party at her apartment in Portimão, Algarve, thereby effectively relighting the flame of Judaism in Algarve and establishing the present Jewish Community of Algarve. In June 1992 Ralf and Judy Pinto and a small group visited the cemetery. Contact was made with Ike Bitton and after submission of a plan of work and estimates, Bitton instructed funds to be released to Pinto who was appointed Hon. Director of Operations. The work was completed and the cemetery was opened to tourism and the public. The entire cemetery is paved with Portuguese calçada and two large shady trees provide a serene ambience. There is a Tahara House in which bodies were washed and prayers said. This was turned into a museum.
A rededication ceremony took place on the 16th of May 1993, in the presence of Dr. Mário Soares, President of Portugal, and some 400 Dignitaries and invited guests. This historic event, including and accurate description of the Jewish Portuguese history since the Roman times can be seen on Isaac Bitton’s 28min 1999 Tellyaward USA winning DVD “Without the Past” – It may be ordered in all formats, using the Portugal contact in this website.
The 10th anniversary was celebrated in 2003 in front of the Cemetery, with an attendance of some 200 personages, Addresses by the president of the Faro Municipality, Director of Tourism, Israeli Ambassador and other dignitaries. A plaque at the school was unveiled, acknowledging the donation in 1965 of the land for the school.
A Ceremony on June 3rd 2007 saw the opening of the new Isaac Bitton Synagogue Museum, the premises being renamed The Faro Jewish Heritage Centre, more adequately describing the developments during the past 15 years; and including a monument the Samuel Gacon; a replica of gravestone found in 1870, of Josef de Tomar (died 1315) in Faro; etc. . Click here to see a video of that day
Since its restoration in 1992, the site has been improved by the additions of the said Synagogue Museum, by other monuments and homage paid (107 graves; Aristides de Sousa Mendes; and others) and developments recording the rich contribution to Portugal by its Jews of over the centuries – it is for this reason the site will be included in the Ministry of Culture’s Roteiro Cultural de Portugal. (Portuguese Cultural Route).
Don’t miss a visit to this important Jewish Heritage Site!

Open weekdays 9.30 - 12.30 and 2.00 to 5.00. Click here for directions.