Synagogues
Below is an illustrated index of the 27 Synagogues profiled on Sacred Destinations so far. For photo credits, please see corresponding articles.
The Bevis Marks Synagogue was established in 1701 and is the oldest still in use in Britain. The interiors are lavish and detailed and contain all of the orignal furnishings.
Capernaum is home to a magnificent synagogue built between the 2nd and 5th centuries, but the precise date remains a subject of debate. It may stand over the ruins of a synagogue in which Jesus preached.
Built in 1859, the Great Synagogue of Budapest is Europe's largest synagogue and the second largest in the world. The fine Byzantine-Moorish building is still in active use by Budapest's Jewish community.
This important archaeological site has been called the Pompeii of the Syrian Desert. It was abandoned in the 3rd century and is home to the oldest surviving house-church and synagogue ever found.
Lyon's synagogue was built in 1864 on the site of a former salt storehouse.
This pink Moorish-style synagogue was built in 1859 for Geneva's Ashkenazi Jewish community.
This large Orthodox synagogue dates from 1904 and includes an excellent Jewish museum.
The Velká Synagoga of Plzen is one of the largest synagogues in the world. The attractive Moorish-style structure was built in 1892 and has been recently restored.
Built in 1878, the Great Synagogue of Brussels is housed in a building often described as "stately Romanesque." The synagogue is active and hosts several Jewish organizations as well.
The Jewish museum traces the history of Jewish communities in the area and includes a tour of Augsburg's main synagogue (1917), an Art Nouveau building with a gold dome.
This is the area of Venice in which all Jews were forced to live from the 16th to the 18th century, as described in The Merchant of Venice. It is home to several synagogues and a Jewish museum.
Founded in 1960 between two 19th-century synagogues, this award-winning museum tells the story of Jewish life in America with special attention on Judaism in Maryland.
Shanghai experienced several waves of Jewish immigration and there was once a large Jewish community here. You can visit the main synagogue, now a museum, and take a tour of Jewish Shanghai.
This small structure from 1840 is the oldest undamaged synagogue left in Germany. It now houses an exhibition on Erfurt's Jewish community.
This tiny Sephardic synagogue dating from 1364 was unexpectedly discovered in the 1960s during general excavation work in the Castle District.
Incorporating the Eldridge Street Synagogue, an Orthodox synagogue dating from 1887, this Jewish museum tells the story of Jewish immigrants to New York's Lower East Side.
Built in 1859-66 and meticulously restored, the New Synagogue of Berlin is an exotic amalgam of styles with a Moorish feel. It is both an active synagogue and a museum.
Dating from 1270, this is Europe's oldest active synagogue. According to legend, angels brought stones from King Solomon's Temple to build the synagogue, and the same angels still protect it.
Dating from the 3rd century AD, the ancient synagogue of Sardis was the largest outside Palestine. Some walls still remain and it has a splendid floor mosaic.
Cordoba's synagogue was built in 1350. It is the only synagogue in Andalusia to survive the expulsion and inquisition of the Jews in 1492 and one of only three ancient synagogues left in Spain.
Originally a synagogue and later a church, this 13th-century Mudejar building with white horseshoe arches looks more like a mosque.
Built in a Moorish style in 1366, this synagogue became a church after 1492 but is now being restored to its original form. Hebrew inscriptions adorn the walls of this major Jewish site.
A synagogue for Seattle's Reform Jewish community, housed in a space-age-style 1960s building. Anyone is welcome to study at its extensive Jewish library.
Accommodating 2,500 worshippers, New York's Temple Emanu-El is the largest synagogue in the world. It also includes a small museum.
Founded in 1763, this is the oldest synagogue in America. Its history represents the religious tolerance that has always characterized Rhode Island.
This is all that remains of the Temple that was once the center of Jewish worship. The Western Wall Plaza is a vast, open-air synagogue that is the preferred place to pray for Jews worldwide.
Before World War II, Worms had one of the oldest Jewish communities in Germany. Today it is home to a rebuilt Romanesque synagogue, a medieval underground mikveh and a Jewish museum.
