Tránsito Synagogue and the Sephardic Museum

The Tránsito Synagogue is a 14th-century synagogue, with Mudéjar plasterwork and a wooden ceiling, and today houses the Sephardic Museum, a state museum of the Ministry of Culture. Toledo Tourism presents it as the most beautiful surviving medieval synagogue. It is in the heart of the Jewish quarter, on Calle Samuel Leví, two minutes' walk from Santo Tomé.

The history of the building

It was built by Samuel ha-Leví, who served at the court of Peter I of Castile as a judge of the Audiencia, diplomat and royal treasurer. After the expulsion of the Jews in 1492, the Catholic Monarchs gave it to the Order of Calatrava; from 1494 the prayer hall was a Christian church, that of San Benito, and the women's gallery became a hospital and asylum for the Calatrava knights. The present name came in the 17th century, from the painting The Transit of the Virgin, by Juan Correa de Vivar, which presided over the altar and is now in the Prado. It was a barracks in the War of Independence, was declared a National Monument in 1877 and, after several restorations, the Sephardic Museum was created in 1964 and opened to the public in 1971.

What you see

The visit begins in the great prayer hall, the main piece, with its plaster decoration and its roof structure. Then the museum rooms tell the history of the Jews on the peninsula: the traditions and origins of the Jewish people, their arrival in Hispania in Roman times, life in the Christian kingdoms between the 12th and 15th centuries, with the conversos, the Inquisition and the expulsion, and the Sephardim from the Middle Ages to today. The former women's gallery, on the upper floor, is devoted to the Jewish life cycle, festivals and Sephardic language and literature. Outside, the north courtyard is laid out as a necropolis with gravestones from different parts of Spain, and the east courtyard shows remains from excavations in the area. Allow an hour.

Hours, price and services

It is open Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 to 20:00 and on Sundays and public holidays from 10:00 to 15:00; closed on Mondays. It is also closed on 1 and 6 January, 1 May, 24, 25 and 31 December and the local holiday. Admission costs €3, and €5 for the joint ticket with the El Greco Museum. It is free on Saturdays from 14:00, every Sunday and on 18 April, 18 May, 12 October and 6 December.

There are audio guides in Spanish, French, Hebrew and English, a free app, toilets, a shop and activities for children. The museum has an accessible route, tactile models, information in Braille, audio descriptions and a hearing loop. Phone: 925 223 665.

How to combine it

The Tránsito is in the middle of the Jewish quarter route: on one side, Santo Tomé and The Burial of the Count of Orgaz; on the other, Santa María la Blanca and San Juan de los Reyes, a few minutes down the street. If you go at the weekend, go in on Saturday afternoon or on Sunday, when it is free. On Sundays it closes at 15:00, so leave it for the morning and the cathedral for the afternoon.