View Page: Jewish Ghetto and the Synagogue

	Jewish Ghetto and the Synagogue
	written by kayanna / 10.03.2005

Section Two

2 of 7

Description

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Rome.html

Houses Dating to 15th or 16th Century

These houses on the via del Portico d'Ottavia date back to the 15th or 16th century.

http://f_pollett.tripod.com/roma-c9.htm

Hinges from the Gates

Remnants of gates of the Ghetto still remain.

The Jewish Ghetto is now comprised of about 4 blocks that look more or less like other parts of Rome, but in the time of the Ghetto, they were crammed with wooden buildings and often flooded. There was one jumble of 5 synagogues known as Cinque Scuole, and sanitary conditions were poor.

The Tempio Maggiore was completed in 1904. Inside, it contains all the important elements of a synagogue, including an ark, no human images, etc. It has the only square dome in Rome, which is made of aluminum, and the underside is painted as a rainbow, the symbol of the covenant.

It is interesting to note that the interior resembles churches seen around Rome. There is much use of marble and columns, and even what resembles a square central nave. When I asked about motives about design - to resemble churches or look distinctly different, I was told that "this is Rome. There are columns and marble."

The synagogue also has a museum inside with artifacts from all over Italy that have been donated by individual families. Artifacts range from torah covers to Nazi papers, spanning several centuries of time.

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