Italian Synagogue (Venice)
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The Italian Synagogue () is an Orthodox
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 ...
congregation and
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 ...
, that is located in the Jewish Ghetto of
Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Completed in 1575, it is one of five synagogues that were established in the ghetto.


History

The Italian Synagogue was built in 1575 to serve the needs of the
Italian Jews Italian Jews (; ) or Roman Jews (; ) can be used in a broad sense to mean all Jews living in or with roots in Italy, or, in a narrower sense, to mean the Italkim, an ancient community living in Italy since the Ancient Roman era, who use the It ...
, the poorest group living in the Venetian Ghetto. As such, it is the smallest, and the most simple of the five synagogues. Like the other four synagogues in Venice, it was termed a ''scuola'' ("School"), rather than ''sinagoga'' ("Synagogue"), in the same way in which Ashkenazi Jews refer to the synagogue as the ''shul'' ("School"). The synagogue was restored in 1970 and extensive restorations were completed in 2023. It was a clandestine synagogue, tolerated on the condition that it be concealed within a building that gives no appearance being a house of worship from the exterior, although the interior is elaborately decorated.


Architecture

The synagogue, which is quite small, accommodates only 25 worshipers. The main features of the room are the Bimah and the Ark. Four large windows illuminate the room from the south side of the campo of the Ghetto Nuovo.


See also

*
History of the Jews in Venice The history of the Jewish community of Venice, the capital of the Veneto region of Italy, has been well known since the medieval era. Medieval history The Third Council of the Lateran forbade and excommunicated any Christian who lives with a ...
* List of synagogues in Italy


References


External links

* * * * * {{Synagogues in Italy 1570s establishments in the Republic of Venice 16th-century synagogues in Italy Baroque architecture in Italy Baroque synagogues Italki Jews topics Synagogues completed in 1575 Synagogues in Venice