El Tránsito Synagogue

Located in Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, El Tránsito Synagogue is a nationally significant synagogue with a well-documented religious and heritage context. A major 14th-century Toledo synagogue founded by Samuel ha-Leví and today home to Spain’s Sephardic Museum. The synagogue was built in Toledo in the 14th century by order of Samuel ha-Leví, a senior official, diplomat and royal treasurer at the court of Pedro I of Castile.

After the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, the Catholic Monarchs transferred the building to the Order of Calatrava. It later passed through Christian institutional uses and today houses Spain’s Sephardic Museum. Architecturally, the site is characterised by mudéjar synagogue with hebrew and arabic epigraphy.

One of Spain’s most important surviving medieval synagogues and home of the Sephardic Museum. Its wider heritage context is recognised through Within the Historic City of Toledo — UNESCO World Heritage Site (1986). Today the building houses the Sephardic Museum, so its current public role is museum and heritage interpretation rather than active synagogue worship.