Fodor's Expert Review Synagogue Historic District

Providing for the spiritual needs of one of the oldest Jewish congregations in the Western Hemisphere, the Nidhe Israel Synagogue was formed by Sephardic Jews who arrived in 1628 from Brazil and introduced sugarcane to Barbados. The adjoining cemetery has tombstones dating from the 1630s. The original house of worship, built in 1654, was destroyed in an 1831 hurricane, rebuilt in 1833, and restored in 1986 with the assistance of the Barbados National Trust. The adjacent museum, opened in 2009 in a restored coral-stone building from 1750, documents the story of the Barbados Jewish community. A significant project in 2017 updated the grounds and restored artisans' workshops and other buildings on the newly designated Synagogue Historic Site. You can arrange an insightful private tour of both the grounds and the museum. Friday-night services are held in winter months, but the building is open to the public year-round. Shorts are not acceptable during services but may be worn at other times.