The Ancient Synagogue of Barcelona (; ) is believed to be an ancient

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

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

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Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. Dating to as early as the 3rd century, the synagogue has been described as the oldest in Spain and one of the oldest synagogues in Europe. After many centuries of use for other purposes, the building re-opened as a synagogue and

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in 2002. No congregation prays regularly at the Ancient Synagogue, however it is used for festive occasions, such as

B'nei Mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

and weddings.

History

Archaeological investigations show that the original structure of the building was built in the third or fourth century; whether this structure was the synagogue cannot be said with certainty. The building was significantly expanded during the 13th century. Medieval Barcelona is known to have had several synagogues, and the main synagogue was certainly in the immediate area. King James I visited the synagogue in 1263 at the conclusion of the Barcelona Disputation. Shlomo ben Aderet, leader of Spanish Jewry of his time, served as the rabbi of the ''Sinagoga Major'' for 50 years during the late 13th century. The Jews of Barcelona were massacred in 1391. The building was then used for many purposes and its original use was forgotten. Over the centuries, additional stories were added to the building.

Restoration

In 1987, Jaume Riera y Sans began researching the location of the ''Sinagoga Major''. His research was based on a reconstruction of the route followed by a thirteenth-century tax collector that ended at the ''Sinagoga Major''. Riera's work led Miguel Iaffa to examine the exterior of the building. Iaffa noted that the structure had been built in compliance with religious requirements that the building should face Jerusalem and that it should have two windows. In fact, the eastward orientation of the building (toward Jerusalem) broke with the northwest/southeast alignment of the streets in its neighborhood. Iaffa purchased the building in 1995 when its owner put it up for sale. The Call Association of Barcelona (), led by Iaffa, undertook the recovery and restoration of the synagogue.

21st century

The ''Sinagoga Major'' was opened to the public in 2002, and it drew 20,000 visitors during 2005. In 2003, two Canadians became the first couple to be married at the ''Sinagoga Major'' in more than 600 years. A New York attorney donated a 500-year-old ''

sefer Torah file:SeferTorah.jpg, A Sephardic Torah scroll rolled to the first paragraph of the Shema file:Köln-Tora-und-Innenansicht-Synagoge-Glockengasse-040.JPG, An Ashkenazi Torah scroll rolled to the Decalogue file:Keneseth Eliyahoo Synagogue, Inte ...

'' (Torah scroll) to the synagogue in 2006. In January 2009, a right-wing extremist affiliated with the Republican Social Movement attacked the ''Sinagoga Major''. He struck the building's facade repeatedly with a baseball bat, and when a synagogue employee approached him, he beat the worker so severely with the bat the man had to be hospitalized with

cerebral contusion Cerebral contusion (), a form of traumatic brain injury, is a bruise of the brain tissue. Like bruises in other tissues, cerebral contusion can be associated with multiple microhemorrhages, small blood vessel leaks into brain tissue. Contusion ...

s and a broken arm. The attacker was detained by police.

Gallery

Entrada de l'Associació Call de Barcelona.jpg, Entrance to the ''Associació Call de Barcelona'' Menorah from Barcelona Synagogue.JPG, A menorah seen inside the synagogue Torah from Barcelona Synagogue.JPG, The ''

'' (Torah scroll) seen inside the synagogue

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Authority control 3rd-century synagogues 3rd-century establishments in Spain 21st-century attacks on Jewish institutions Establishments in Spain in the Roman era

Religious buildings and structures in Barcelona Sephardi Jewish culture in Spain Sephardi synagogues

Sephardi Jewish culture in Europe