This large border city in Beira Baixa (1,400 km2) inherited the territory of several former municipalities extinct on the 19th century. In 1492, time of the expulsion of the Jews from Spain, many refugees came to reinforce the local population.

Despite references to previous Jewish quarters existing in ancient towns like Monsanto, Medelim or Proenca-a-Velha, it is at the time of new-Christians that Idanha-A-Nova feels the impact of the presence of important crypto-Jewish centers.

However, should be noted the existence of the Jewry Street in Medelim as well as the characteristic balcony houses of this village.

In the times of the Inquisition, around 200 people linked to the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova were formally accused.

Samuel Nunes (Diogo Nunes Ribeiro) () doctor, native from this village, was one of the first Jews to live in North America.  He was Antonio Ribeiro Sanches’s uncle and had a dramatic escape from Lisbon to London in 1726, with his family, due to the persecution of the Inquisition.

As an example of the importance that the portuguese diaspora had, some American descendants of Dr. Samuel Nunes should be mentioned; the great-grandson Mordechai Manuel Noah, playwright, journalist and diplomat who became the first Jew born in the United States to achieve national notoriety; Commodore Uriah Phillips Levy, one of the senior members of the American navy during the Civil War.