Ancient ‘Church’ in Spain May Actually Be a Roman-Era Synagogue

Archaeologists have found menorah artifacts and Hebrew inscriptions that may prove a 4th-century church was actually a Roman-era synagogue.

Archaeologists in southern Spain have uncovered compelling evidence suggesting that a Roman-era building—long believed to be an early Christian church—may, in fact, have been a synagogue serving a small, now-forgotten Jewish community. The discovery, made in the ancient Ibero-Roman town of Cástulo near modern-day Linares in Andalusia, could represent one of the oldest known synagogues on the Iberian Peninsula.

The findings were made during ongoing excavations led by Bautista Ceprián and his team from the Cástulo Sefarad Primera Luz project, which is dedicated to uncovering traces of Jewish history in the region. While the building had originally been classified as a 4th-century Christian basilica, a growing body of archaeological evidence now challenges that assumption.

Artifacts Tell a Different Story

The breakthrough came with the unearthing of several artifacts: three oil lamp fragments adorned with seven-branched menorahs, a roof tile featuring a five-branched menorah, and a piece of a conical jar lid inscribed with Hebrew text. Experts remain divided over the translation—some suggest it reads “light of forgiveness,” others interpret it as “Song to David”—but all agree that the inscription signals the presence of a Jewish population previously undocumented in historical records.