The Simon Attias Synagogue is a former

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

Essaouira Essaouira ( ; ), known until the 1960s as Mogador (, or ), is a port city in the western Moroccan region of Marrakesh-Safi, on the Atlantic coast. It has 77,966 inhabitants as of 2014. The foundation of the city of Essaouira was the work of t ...

, formerly known as Mogador, in

Marrakesh-Safi Marrakesh-Safi () is one of the twelve regions of Morocco.Jounaux.ma
Its popul ...

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 ...

. It is also known as the Bet Ha-Knesset Simon Attias, M'sod Attias and Shaarei T'filah (', 'house of assembly' or ). The synagogue was built in 1882. The former synagogue has been incorporated as part of Bayt Dakira, a

Jewish museum A Jewish museum is a museum which focuses upon Jews and may refer seek to explore and share the Jewish experience in a given area. Notable Jewish museums include: Albania * Solomon Museum, Berat Australia * Jewish Museum of Australia, Melbourn ...

History

The synagogue forms one wing of a masonry, courtyard building that also contained the home of Simon Attias. A single, large door set into a

Horseshoe arch The horseshoe arch (; ), also called the Moorish arch and the keyhole arch, is a type of arch in which the circular curve is continued below the horizontal line of its diameter, so that the opening at the bottom of the arch is narrower than the ar ...

leads into the suite of buildings. The synagogue is on the second floor. The ground floor once held shops. The third floor contained the offices of Jewish courts, which heard both commercial and personal cases. The synagogue proper is a space two stories high, with large, rounded-arch windows and a

women's gallery The Women's Gallery was a collectively established and run art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, showing only the work of women, that ran for four years between 1980 and 1984. History In 1977, artist Joanna Paul developed a project called ...

. The interior woodword was carved in London. The large, wooden

Torah Ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Kod ...

featured columns and a rounded pediment, and is decorated with floral carvings. A large number of memorial lamps survived in 1993, including one to the memory of Simon Attias, who died in 1892. In 1993 the synagogue was in sound condition. In 2009 it is closed and is now undergoing restoration and conversion to a museum. After the restoration, the former synagogue formed part of the Bayt Dakira Jewish museum.

References

External links

19th-century synagogues in Morocco Jews and Judaism in Essaouira Former synagogues in Morocco Synagogues completed in 1882 Synagogues preserved as museums {{Morocco-synagogue-stub

History

See also

References

External links