For more than two millennia, several cities have existed, one on top of the other, with different names, but in the shadow of the same Castle Hill, from Roman Olisipo, Visigoth Olissipona, Muslim Al-Ushbuna, medieval Lixboa to the current Lisbon of the 21st century. It is very likely that Jewish families lived permanently in all these cities, but our concrete knowledge is much greater for the medieval period, in Lixboa during the first two dynasties of Portuguese monarchs. Since it was conquered in 1147 by Afonso Henriques, and even before that, the city was always the scene of a complex social dynamic, where the three religions then dominant in the Iberian Peninsula coexisted, as Christians, Muslims and Jews crossed paths daily in its streets. In this presentation, we will explore the streets where they lived and worked, the houses, shops and community spaces of medieval Jews in Lisbon. We will also remember some of the names and lives that marked the history of the city and the kingdom itself.
Prof. Manuel Fialho Silva
The 11th conference in the “Poentes Olisiponenses” cycle, organized by the City of Lisbon Foundation, took place on January 14, 2026. The session was given by Professor Manuel Fialho Silva, who dedicated his speech to the theme “Medieval Jewish Lisbon.” The conference focused on the presence and influence of the Jewish community in the Portuguese capital during the Middle Ages.
