Throughout History, the Jewish people have gone through successful and wealthy periods, but desperate times as well. Until 1496 there had been 150 Jewish communities in Portugal, each one having its own worship places and institutions. But that year brought an end to their communities, forceful conversion to Christianity and expulsion from Portugal. Many religious sites, walls, carvings and gates were destroyed, but Judaism in Portugal didn’t completely vanish; its traces remained in inscriptions, historic markers, place names and local tales.