Orthodox Flemish Synagogue in Gibraltar, rebuilt after devastating 1913 fire.
Nefusot Yehuda, or the Flemish Synagogue, is an active Orthodox synagogue at 65 Line Wall Road in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory. Built around 1800 by Dutch merchants and modelled on Amsterdam’s Portuguese Synagogue, its interior was destroyed by fire in 1913 and later redesigned by an Italian architect.
Nefusot Yehuda Synagogue, officially Kahal Kadosh Nefusot Yehuda and commonly called the Flemish Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue at 65 Line Wall Road in Gibraltar, a British overseas territory of the United Kingdom. A synagogue has existed on this site since the early eighteenth century. The present synagogue was built from 1799 to 1800 by Dutch merchants on the site of a garden bought by Semtob (Toby) Sequerra, and was originally modelled on the Portuguese Synagogue in Amsterdam. It was entitled Nefusot Yehudah (“The Dispersed of Judah”) and opened in 1799 or 1800. The synagogue follows Nusach Sefard and is one of Gibraltar’s four active synagogues, with a Gibraltarian‑Moroccan‑Sephardi prayer tradition noted in Hebrew sources. From its foundation until 1882 the minister was always a member of the Conquy family, which came to Gibraltar from Amsterdam. In 1913 the interior was destroyed by fire. An Italian architect, familiar with Catholic church architecture, redesigned the interior, incorporating marble and moving the reading desk into the ark area instead of the centre. After 1945, Moroccan tiles were installed, and the building now combines a beige Dutch exterior with an Italian‑influenced, ornately decorated interior.
