Torarica is the original capital of Suriname. It was settled by

Portuguese Jews Spanish and Portuguese Jews, also called Western Sephardim, Iberian Jews, or Peninsular Jews, are a distinctive sub-group of Sephardic Jews who are largely descended from Jews who lived as New Christians in the Iberian Peninsula during the fe ...

in 1629. One origin offered for its name is as a Portuguese coinage meaning "Opulent

Torah The Torah ( , "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The Torah is also known as the Pentateuch () ...

". The Portuguese Jews arrived via

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

and

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

.The Surprising Discovery of Suriname’s Jewish Community
by Jacob Steinberg, 2008 Kulanu By 1665, the village of

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

was expanded and quickly outranked Torarica. The name Torarica is still in use by the Torarica Group, the largest hotel chain of Suriname. A former

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

plantation La Simplicité are located near the old town.

References

Historic Jewish communities in South America History of Suriname Jewish Surinamese history Populated places in Para District Brazilian-Jewish diaspora Dutch-Jewish diaspora Portuguese-Jewish diaspora Portuguese diaspora in South America {{Suriname-geo-stub

See also

References