Spanish Synagogue (Venice)

The Spanish Synagogue (Italian: Scola Ponentina; or Italian: Sinagoga Scuola Spagnola) is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice, Italy. Designed by Baldassare Longhena in the Baroque style, the synagogue was completed in 1580, and it is one of five synagogues that were established in the ghetto.^[2][3]

Spanish Synagogue
Italian: Scola Ponentina; or Italian: Sinagoga Scuola Spagnola
The synagogue façade, from the square of the Ghetto Nuovo, in 2015
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Rite	Italian rite Nusach Sefard
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue
Status	Active
Location
Location	Jewish Ghetto, Venice
Country	Italy
Location of the synagogue in Venice
Geographic coordinates	45°26′41″N 12°19′32″E
Architecture
Architect(s)	Baldassare Longhena
Type	Synagogue architecture
Style	Baroque
Date established	1555 (as a congregation)
Completed	1580
Materials	Stone
[1]

The synagogue is open for services from Passover until the end of the High Holiday season.

History

The Spanish Synagogue was founded by Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in the 1490s who reached Venice, usually via Amsterdam, Livorno or Ferrara, in the 1550s. The four-story yellow stone building was constructed in 1580 and was restored in 1635. It is a clandestine synagogue, which was tolerated on the condition that it be concealed within a building that gives no appearance being a house of worship form the exterior, although the interior is elaborately decorated.^[4]

The synagogue's ornate interior contains three large chandeliers and a dozen smaller ones, as well as a huge sculpted wooden ceiling.

Gallery

• 
  View towards the ark
• 
  Gate on campo delle scole
• 
  Holocaust memorial

See also

• Judaism portal
• Italy portal

• History of the Jews in Venice
• List of synagogues in Italy