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Synagogue of Tomar

Wikipedia's first sentence called it “best preserved of the medieval synagogues of portugal”. Today it says “former jewish congregation and synagogue”.
Measured, not asserted. Every count, date and revision on this page was taken from Wikipedia's own history and checked against the live article. The words quoted are theirs.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-03.
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The opening as it read in 2020

Synagogue of Tomar is the best preserved of the medieval synagogues of Portugal .1 It is located at 73 Rua Dr.2 Joaquim Jaquinto, in the historic centre of the city of Tomar , and houses a small Jewish museum. The synagogue of Tomar was built between 1430 and 1460 by the thriving Jewish community of the town. From the outside, it looks no different from the other houses in the street. The current main entrance, facing north, did not exist in the Middle Ages. It was the Gothic pointed arch facing east — the direction of Jerusalem — that used to be the main entrance. Inside, the synagogue is a square hall with three short aisles divided by four pillars supporting Gothic vaulting . The capitals bear geometric and vegetal motifs. Excavations in a building beside the synagogue revealed the remnants of a mikveh (ritual bath). The synagogue was used as such for no more than half a century in the 15th century. In the next four centuries, it changed hands and purpose at least four times: after the expulsion and forced conversions of Portuguese Jews ordered by King Manuel in 1496–97, the synagogue was bought by a private individual who sold it in 1516 with the express purpose that there be installed the prison of the town, which until then was in the castle; the building probably served as a prison from 1516 to the 1550s; in the early 17th century it seems to have been used a Christian chapel (the parish records of the church of St John the Baptist show that a wedding was conducted in 1613 at a St Bartholomew's chapel on New Street); in the 19th century it was turned into a storage house, for hay first and then as a common cellar and grocery warehouse. On 29 July 1921 the building was classified national monument. On 5 May 1923, the then owner of the building, Joaquim Cardoso Tavares, sold it to the Polish scholar Samuel Schwarz, who restored the building and conducted the first excavations. Schwarz donated the building on 27 July 1939 to the Portuguese government with the condition that it be turned into a museum; in return, Schwarz and his wife were granted Portuguese citizenship that protected them during the Second World War. Since 1939, the building has functioned as the small Abraham Zacuto Portuguese Jewish Museum. It hosts several Mediaeval tomb slabs from around the country. Two of its best exhibits are a stone plate from the Lisbon synagogue, dated from 1307 and bearing a greeting inscription, and a notable 13th-century inscription from Belmonte on which the Divine Name is represented by three dots in a manner reminiscent of that in ancient Hebrew manuscripts from the Dead Sea . Other well-preserved, pre-expulsion synagogues can be found in Híjar , Toledo , and Córdoba . Main entrance Interior of the Tomar Synagogue showing the pillars and vaulting "The Synagogue of Tomar, Portugal" .3

This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 954892803.
Today
Wikipedia's first sentence called it “best preserved of the medieval synagogues of portugal”. Today it says “former jewish congregation and synagogue”. Read the current article and compare.
201020152020Oct '232025
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What Wikipedia says this is

Every article opens by defining its subject. This one was redefined since 2010, and today's defining sentence is their current revision.

Then

best preserved of the medieval synagogues of portugal

Now

former jewish congregation and synagogue

Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.

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