We will meet you at the old fishing port, mouth of Pistola, in front of the hotel tiduca and we will start our journey from there, we will visit the first houses built by the Jews, the Jewish streets, the Catholic church, the Jewish cemetery and the old airfield.

Ultimately the Cape Verde Jewish Heritage Project plans to take this story of mutual tolerance – by both the Jews and the Cape Verdeans who welcomed them – and transform it into a teaching tool that can be used to educate as well as to attract tourists and investors, and therefore economic growth, to Cape Verde.

Almost all Jews who settled in Cape Verde were Sephardim from Morocco or Gibraltar. In the 19th century, they immigrated to Cape Verde – then a Portuguese colony – seeking economic opportunities, as the archipelago was an important transatlantic commercial hub.

Most Jews were single males. Because they were few in number, they quickly assimilated into the larger Catholic society through intermarriage.
Since the Jewish community in Cape Verde was small, it was probably deemed more important to create Jewish burial grounds than to build a house of worship.

The story of the Jews of Cape Verde is a continuation of the larger Sephardic/Moroccan Jewish Diaspora. Sephardim in general and Moroccan Jews in particular tend to be accepting and tolerant of people from different religions and backgrounds. Throughout history, they have displayed a knack for blending into other societies.