 In some of these places their presence can still be witnessed, as in the use of the Ladino language by some Jewish communities in Turkey, the Portuguese based dialects of the Netherlands Antilles, or the multiple synagogues built by what was to be known as the Spanish and Portuguese Jews (such as the Amsterdam Esnoga).Despite strong persecution, conversos of Jewish ancestry did stay in Portugal initially.Of those, a significant number converted to Christianity as a mere formality, practicing their Jewish faith in secret.