Former Andalucían bar confirmed as lost medieval synagogue

As well as a synagogue, the 14th-century building has in its time been a hospital, a children’s home, a restaurant and a bar Photograph: Utrera city hall.

Archaeologists in the Andalucían city of Utrera have rediscovered a staggeringly rare Spanish medieval synagogue, which was later used over the course of seven centuries as everything from a hospital and a home for abandoned children to a restaurant and disco-pub.

The find, announced on Tuesday, makes the 14th-century building one of a precious handful of medieval synagogues to have survived the aftermath of the expulsion of Spain’s Jews in 1492.