Amsterdam - Portuguese Synagogue

(Local Name: Portugese Synagoge) Amsterdam's Portuguese synagogue, the largest of the three houses of worship on the J.D. Meijerplein, is reached through a forecourt surrounded by small houses (including the sexton's house, the Tes Haim library and the Livraria Montezinos).

The building, completed in 1675 and facing southeast towards Jerusalem, was modeled on the temple of Solomon. The finest building of the Jewish faith in the Netherlands, it contains an ark of the covenant made of rare Brazilian wood and splendid menorahs. The synagogue was restored between 1953 and 1959.