Twenty-three centuries of Jewish presence in Greece have left their mark in more ways than one. Material remains to this legacy can be found all over the country. However, the ravages of time have often wiped out the traces of many communities that were abandoned, for one reason or another. Earthquakes, wars, economic decline -to mention but a few- often destroyed communities or forced them to relocate. Abandoned sites sometimes disappeared, either buried and forgotten, or quarried for building material, or simply built over. That is the reason why, although Jewish presence is historically documented in many locations, the ones where material finds corroborate historic testimonies are much fewer.
The better preserved locations are those where vibrant Communities existed just before the Holocaust. Only nine of them still function. There is an effort to maintain and restore as much as possible of this rich heritage, in the rest of Greece.