From the time of ancient times to modern days, the Jewish story in Greece unfolds across more than two millennia.
It stretches from mountain towns to sea-washed islands, from quiet synagogues to bustling ports — a journey through faith, culture, and survival.
This two-part virtual tour reveals two intertwined worlds: the Romaniote Jews, rooted in Greece since antiquity, and the Sephardic Jews who arrived after the expulsion from Spain, bringing new language and new traditions.

November 24, Monday Part I: Roots Beneath the Mountains and the Sea

Our journey begins with the Romaniote Jews - heirs to a Greek-Jewish tradition older than almost any in Europe.

We visit Ioannina, with its lakeside synagogue and stories that linger in its narrow lanes, then sail south to the islands of Crete and Rhodes, where Jewish communities lived and flourished under Greek, Byzantine, and Ottoman rule.

Along the way, we’ll look at ancient Jewish mosaics and traces of early synagogues, discuss how the Romaniote communities developed their language, customs, and rituals, and how political changes in the region shaped their lives.

We’ll talk about clothing, food, and the local traditions that made Jewish life in Greece both deeply rooted and wonderfully distinctive.

November 26, Wednesday Part II: The Sephardic Glory and Its Silence

The second chapter brings us to Salonika, once known as “the Jerusalem of the Balkans.”
Here, the Sephardic exiles from Spain built a new world — of printing presses, trade, and song.

We follow their story to Corfu and the Ionian islands, tracing the brilliance of this culture and the changes that came with the rise of modern Greece in the 20th century.

We’ll talk about the tragic years of the Holocaust, when most of Greek Jewry was destroyed and about the courage of Greek neighbors, priests, and officials who risked everything to save Jewish lives.

From there, we turn to today’s Greece - to surviving synagogues, the Jewish Museum of Greece, and the small but vibrant communities that still keep their heritage alive.

Along the way, we’ll explore family recipes, holiday customs, and the distinctive traditions that give Jewish Greece its unmistakable voice.