This is a fascinating little stop if you’re visiting Suriname. It was especially interesting to me since I’m Jewish. You can walk through a gravesite of former slaves and their families and contrast it with the Jewish gravesite with stones dating back to the 1600s. It was all surprisingly well labeled and very informative with plaques written in English and Dutch. It takes about a half hour to see it all, and then you can go down the road 7 minutes for a gorgeous swim in Blaka Watre.
We stopped here by boat and were pleasantly surprised to see that the area was so well maintained; it looked overgrown from the waterfront. There is plenty of information about its history and it is nice walking around the ruins of the synagogue and the cemetery knowing this history.
We had the place to ourselves when we visited recently. There is excellent information about the former Jewish settlement and the buildings in both English and Dutch. A small museum with pictures and information about Jewish settlement across the whole of the Carribean. Well worth reading, especially if you have read any of Cynthia McLeods books on Suriname.
We visited Jodensavanne by boat, a delightful 2 hours cruise from our starting point south of Paramaribo.
The site is indeed a bit mysterious, as only a large cemetery remains plus the ruins of the synagogue. There are no remains anymore of any of the former plantation houses.
However we had the great advantage of a excellent guide for this visit who told us about the fascinating stories of Jodensavanne and its former residents.
The graves themselves are unique and tell the stories of the deceased via the tombstones.
it is about one hour drive from Paramaribo. All that is left are the remains of a synagoge and a graveyard.
