Yanbol Synagogue along synagogue street- Author; Sadrettin- Wikimedia

Top 10 Amazing Facts about Synagogue Street


 

Izmir has been home to the Jewish community since Roman times and the Synagogue Street (also known as ‘Havra Sokak’ in the local language), is the symbol of the same.

The street once boasted nine synagogues in this bustling street of Izmir’s Bazaar. Today, three of these historical synagogues are still used and prayers are conducted on Saturday mornings.

1. Its most active synagogues date to the 18th century

Italian Synagogue in Istanbul- Author; Karakalem- Wikimedia

The Seniyora Synagogue takes its name from Dona Gracia Nasi (also known as La Senora): the mother-in-law and aunt of Duke Joseph Nasi.

The most active synagogues on the street today date back to the 18th century and are open every morning. The Kadosh Mizrahi Synagogue is another one that is open only on Saturday mornings and is still active.

The Shalon (Aydin) Synagogue is also open only on Saturday mornings, but the visitors can catch its glimpse from outside while passing through the pathway leading to a shoe shop.

The synagogue has glass doors and the interiors can be observed from the outside.

2. Best time to visit the street is on Saturday

Bet Israel Synagogue in Izmir, Turkey- Author; A.Savin- Wikimedia

The best time to visit the synagogue is on Saturday morning when they are open for worship.

On Saturdays also, the bustle is not too much and most of the markets are open. Thus, one can take advantage of that

3. The best way to explore synagogue street is by foot

Photo by Juliane Liebermann on Unsplash

The best way to explore synagogue street and actually have the full experience while exploring is by foot.

This way, you can also easily step in the synagogues and explore the very unique architectural designs that characterize many of these synagogues.

4. The synagogues at this street are as old as 400 years old

Hemdat Israel Synagogue in Istanbul, Turkey- Author; A.Savin- Wikimedia

The great thing with the synagogue street is that here you will find that the synagogues range from 400 or so years old to about 100 years old, and have not been overly renovated or modernised.

Thus, you can see real slices of history, and feel the vitality that still infuses them, several of which are still used for prayers.

It is also a testament to the good relations between the Jewish community and the Turkish state over the past 500-plus years.

5. The synagogues are getting revamped as Izmir strives for UNESCO stamp

UNESCO Logo- Author; Nationale Unesco Commissie (Nederland)- Wikimedia

In an effort and a vision to revive Izmir’s jewish heritage, the synagogues at synagogue street are being remodeled and revamped as this Turkish city vies for a place on the UNESCO heritage list.

6. The synagogue street has quite an interesting history

View of Beer-Sheva on synagogue street- Author; Daniel Ventura- Wikimedia

In the mid-19th century, a population of 50,000-strong Jewish  made up the second largest community after the Greeks in the city known in the Ottoman Empire as “Izmir, the infidel.”

The city had 34 synagogues, a sophisticated hospital, local Torah schools and a posh college offering a curriculum in French.

The city’s first printing press was a Jewish one, printing books in Hebrew, Ladino and eventually in English, and boyoz, the Jewish pastry whose name “bollos” means “little bread” in Ladino, became one of the city’s staple foods. 

This is how synangogue street came to be a busy and popular street that is known today.

7. The synanogues on synagogue street are typically characterized by very unique architectural designs

Hemdat Israel Synagogue – Author; A.Savin- Wikimedia

The unusual cluster of synagogues you will find on synagogue street bear a typical medieval Spanish architectural style.

This is because the Sephardic Jews, who were expelled from Spain and Portugal by the 1492 Alhambra Decree, carried their aesthetic to the Ottoman Empire.

But the Jewish presence in the region precedes the Spanish edict by centuries, as demonstrated by the late-Roman period synagogue in Sardis, which is  97 kilometers from the Izmir city center.

8. It is a popular tourist destination

A tourist taking pictures- Image by SplitShire from Pixabay

Especially now with all the remodelling that is taking place, synagogue street is quite a popular tourist destination.

It attracts a lot of visitors annually and even jews from other parts of the world interested in learning some of the historical milestones surpassed have a vested interest.

9. One of the synanogues on this street has been renovated into a small museum

Main exhibition of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews- Author; Magdalena Starowieyska, Dariusz Golik- Wikimedia

The municipality has been able to renovate the Synagogue Street and helped turn Beit Hillel Oratory into a small museum.

Municipality sources state that a larger plan has also been drafted, but not finalized, in line with Izmir’s efforts to get the city’s historical center onto the UNESCO World Heritage List.

As of 2020, it was on the UNESCO Tentative List, which is basicaly the first step in the process of recognition as a world heritage site.

10. The street is also known for selling fresh produce

Produce stalls- Image by ElasticComputeFarm from Pixabay

Apart from the beautiful and historically rich synangues found on synagogue street, there are also fresh garden produce you will find here. This is waht makes it so popular among the locals.

They have stalls of pretty much everything. The stalls range from produce stalls to meat stalls, spice stalls, chicken stalls and even cheese stalls.

With this kind of diversification, then it does not come as a surprise to see how popular and busy synangigue street usually is.

 

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