Sephardic Jews fled to Bordeaux after the 1492 Alhambra Decree, and the congregation was established around 1790. Armand Corcelles built the first synagogue, completed in 1812, and a fire destroyed it in 1873. The present building was completed in 1882 on a new site. Charles Bruguet was the architect, and Gustave Eiffel handled the engineering.
Donations paid for it, including major gifts from the banking Pereire family and from local and national government. The cost was 660,000 francs. The article describes the style as Romanesque Revival combined with Byzantine Revival, with two church-like towers on the brick facade.
It was France's largest synagogue when it opened. It was classified as a historic monument on July 20, 1998. It is now an active Sephardic synagogue.
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