Historic Synagogue Justo Sierra 71
Mexico City
The Historic Synagogue Justo Sierra 71 (Spanish: Sinagoga Histórica Justo Sierra 71), formerly known as Nidjei Israel Synagogue (Spanish: Sinagoga Nidjei Israel), is an Orthodox Jewish congregation, synagogue, and cultural center, located at Justo Sierra 71, in the historic center of Mexico City (Spanish: Centro Histórico de la Ciudad de México), in Mexico. The building was completed in 1941 and serves both as a synagogue and cultural center of the Ashkenazi Jewish community.
History
The Nidjei Israel Synagogue is the third oldest in Mexico City, and the first founded by Ashkenazi Jews. The synagogue was built for Orthodox Jewish immigrants from Poland, Russia, and Lithuania in the La Merced neighborhood. It was the second Ashkenazi synagogue in Mexico City.
Closed from the 1960s, the synagogue was used for profane purposes for over thirty years, before being extensively restored and reopened in 2009 as a synagogue and cultural center. The building is open to the public for guided tours and other tourist activities. Despite being built in the 20th century, the synagogue was granted the title of Historic Synagogue and is one of the oldest in Mexico City.
Architecture
Mónica Unikel-Fasja, in her book Synagogues of Mexico, wrote:
“The monumentality of the bimah (sort of pulpit) is impressive, undoubtedly the most elaborate of those existing in Mexico, placed in the center in the Ashkenazi fashion. It is made of richly carved wood with cut glasses describing musical instruments: drum, harp, zither and lute, as well as recurring Jewish symbols: the talit (religious shawl), palm leaf, citron and the Star of David among sacred prayers.“
The Nidjei Israel Synagogue was created based on the need for prayer spaces as the Ashkenazi Jewish community of Mexico City grew.
The public source identifies “Historic Synagogue Justo Sierra 71” as mexico City. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Historic, Synagogue and Justo.
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The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12220576. Authority coordinates are 19.435, -99.128. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1941 and 2009.
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This entry incorporates text from “Historic Synagogue Justo Sierra 71” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.