A small, restored synagogue and museum on Rua do Bom Jesus, the cobbled street at the heart of Recife Antigo. The original congregation was founded in 1636 by Sephardic Jews who arrived during the Dutch period and dispersed when the Portuguese reconquered Pernambuco in 1654 — some of those refugees went on to found the first Jewish community in New Amsterdam, now New York.
The exhibition is compact but well done. A glass floor reveals the foundations of the original mikveh, and panels trace the history of Sephardic settlement across the Atlantic world. Closed Mondays; entry is cheap and well worth the half hour.