Sephardic Jews first fled to Bordeaux from the Iberian Peninsula following the Alhambra decree in 1492.

Following the Declaration of the Rights of Man adopted on August 26, 1789 during the French Revolution, discrimination against citizens was prohibited.

Costing 660,000 French francs, the building was financed by donations, including significant contributions from the Pereire family, who were bankers, as well as from local and national government.

At the top of the façade there is a sculpture of the Tablets of Stone bearing the Ten Commandments.

[4] During the German occupation of France in World War II, Jews were interned at the synagogue before being deported to concentration camps; the building was then pillaged.