, ( lad, 'לה ג'ודיריה'), was the former Jewish quarter of the city of

Rhodes Rhodes (; el, Ρόδος , translit=Ródos ) is the largest and the historical capital of the Dodecanese islands of Greece. Administratively, the island forms a separate municipality within the Rhodes regional unit, which is part of the S ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wi ...

. The quarter was inhabited by

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

, Ladino-speaking Jews.

History

Although there has been a Jewish presence of some sort on the island of Rhodes for nearly 2,000 years, the inhabitants of La Juderia did not arrive until the 16th century, after they were expelled from Spain. The Jews of Rhodes prospered until the persecutions of Italian Fascism began in the 1930s, and at its peak the population of the Jewish quarter was more than 4,000.

Geography and features

La Juderia is located in the eastern part of the Old City of Rhodes, near a pier used by cruise ships. It is primarily centered on the Dossiadou Street where the

Kahal Shalom Synagogue The Kahal Shalom Synagogue ( he, בית הכנסת קהל קדוש שלום, or ''Beit HaKnesset Kahal Kadosh Shalom'' meaning ''Synagogue of the Holy Congregation of Peace'', el, Συναγωγή ''Καχάλ Σαλόμ'', italic=unset) is a Sep ...

, the lone remaining Jewish house of worship on the island of the six that once stood, is located, along with the

Jewish Museum of Rhodes The Jewish Museum of Rhodes ( el, Εβραϊκό Μουσείο της Ρόδου) is a museum located in the Old Town of the island of Rhodes, eastern Greece. It was established by Aron Hasson of the Rhodes Jewish Historical Foundation in 1997 to ...

. Other features in the quarter include the Square of the Martyred Jews, which pays tribute to the Jews of Rhodes who were murdered in the Holocaust, located near the heart of the neighborhood, the

Alliance Israélite Universelle The Alliance Israélite Universelle (AIU; he, כל ישראל חברים; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jew ...

school, the former site of the Kahal Grande Synagogue, and a number of plaques throughout the quarter in Ladino,

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

and

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

. Outside the Juderia is the Jewish cemetery of Rhodes, which dates from the 16th century and is one of the best preserved in Europe.

References

Rhodes Jewish Museum

External links

Jewish Community of Rhodes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Juderia, La Jewish Rhodian history Sephardi Jewish culture in Greece Historic Jewish communities in Europe