Portuguese Synagogue

Architect Elias Bouwman's mammoth synagogue, one of the largest in all the world and reputedly inspired by the Temple of Solomon, was inaugurated in 1675. It's built on wooden piles and is surrounded by smaller annexes (offices, archives, the rabbinate and one of the oldest libraries in the world). Renovation in the late 1950s restored the synagogue to an extremely high standard and the low-key tours are informative and interesting.