The Al Fassiyine Synagogue or Slat Al Fassiyine (; ) is a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

located in the ''

Mellah A ''mellah'' ( or 'saline area'; and ) is the place of residence historically assigned to Jewish communities in Morocco. The urban ''mellah'', as it exists in numerous cities and large towns, is a Jewish quarter enclosed by a wall and a fortifi ...

'' of

Fes el-Jdid Fes Jdid or Fes el-Jdid () is one of the three parts of Fez, the second largest city of Morocco. It was founded by the Marinids in 1276 as an extension of Fes el Bali (the old city or ''medina'') and as a royal citadel and capital. It is occup ...

, within the historic

medina Medina, officially al-Madinah al-Munawwarah (, ), also known as Taybah () and known in pre-Islamic times as Yathrib (), is the capital of Medina Province (Saudi Arabia), Medina Province in the Hejaz region of western Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, ...

of Fez,

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

. The Slat al-Fassiyine Synagogue was one of the few synagogues where the non-

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

rituals of the ''

toshavim ''Toshavim'' (, "residents") or ''bildiyīn'' () is a generic reference to non-Sephardic Jews who inhabited lands in which the Jews expelled from Spain in 15th century settled (" Megorashim", "expellees").Moroccan Jews Moroccan Jews (; ; ) are Jews who live in or are from Morocco. Moroccan Jews constitute an ancient community dating to Roman Empire, Roman times. Jews began immigrating to the region as early as 70 CE. They were much later met by a second wave o ...

) continued up until the 20th century.

History

Slat al-Fassiyin ("Prayer of the Fessis" or "Prayer of the People from Fez") is reputed to be the oldest synagogue of the Mellah of Fez and one of the oldest in continuous use. It is thought to have been built during the

Marinid Sultanate The Marinid dynasty ( ) was a Berbers, Berber Muslim dynasty that controlled present-day Morocco from the mid-13th to the 15th century and intermittently controlled other parts of North Africa (Algeria and Tunisia) and of the southern Iberian P ...

(13th-15th centuries). Its current building dates from the 17th century. In 1791–92, Moulay Yazid expelled the Jews from the Mellah and turned Slat al Fassiyine into a prison. However, after a short period, he allowed them to go back.

Decline

The synagogue continued being used actively through the end of the 1950s, when most of the Jewish community left the country for

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, and

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

(

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

). After Morocco gained its independence from France in 1956, the synagogue fell into disrepair and was eventually turned into a carpet-making workshop, and later a

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

gymnasium.

Restoration

The synagogue was reinaugurated in February 2013 by the Prime Minister

Abdelilah Benkirane Abdelilah Benkirane (, born 1954) is a Moroccan politician who was the Prime Minister of Morocco from November 2011 to March 2017. After having won a plurality of seats in the 2011 parliamentary election, his party, the moderate Islamist Justi ...

, with the funds for the restoration coming from the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

government, the Jewish community of Fez, the Foundation for Moroccan Jewish Cultural Heritage, and the Moroccan government.

References

External links

{{Fes 17th-century synagogues in Morocco Buildings and structures in Fez, Morocco Judaism in Fez Synagogues in Morocco

History

Decline

Restoration

See also

References

External links