Amsterdam - Jewish Historical Museum

(Local Name: Joods Historisch Museum) In 1987 the Jewish Historical Museum moved into its new premises - four redundant synagogues right next to the Waterlooplein. The first of the four synagogues, the Grote Synagoge, or Grote Sjoel, was built in 1670 but soon after its consecration was already proving too small. In 1686, therefore, a second, smaller synagogue, the Obbene Sjoel, was built behind the Great Synagogue and over the kosher slaughterhouse. The third synagogue, the Dritt Sjoel, was added in 1700 and finally, in 1752, the new synagogue, the Neie Sjoel, completed the complex. This was sold in its entirety to the City of Amsterdam by the Jewish Community in 1955. In the mid-1970s the city decided that it should be put to a new use. The buildings were restored for a budget of over £8million, and joined together using steel and glass to create a very attractive, highly accessible building that now houses what is probably the most important Jewish museum outside Israel.