The Biella Synagogue is an early 17th-century

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

in Biella, Italy. The synagogue occupies the top floor of a medieval house at Vicolo del Bellone 3, in the heart of the historic Jewish quarter. It is a modestly sized, rectangular room with

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

decoration, a central bimah and an ornate, seventeenth century, baroque

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

.Ruth Ellen Gruber (January 25, 2009
"Biella synagogue restored"
Jewish Heritage Travel The synagogue possesses the oldest known Torah scroll still in use which dates to the 13th century. In 2009 a 350,000 euro restoration, overseen by the Jewish community in

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

and funded from the Piedmont Region and by donations from a number of sources, including a local bank, completed the repair of the roof, and restoration of the Torah Ark,

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 " ...

and interior. Further restoration work is planned. The Biella Synagogue is one of about sixteen that survive in

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

, including the

Synagogue of Casale Monferrato The Synagogue of Casale Monferrato is a 16th-century synagogue located in Vicolo Salmone Olper in the traditionally Jewish quarter of Casale Monferrato, Province of Alessandria, region of Piedmont, Italy. History The synagogue was built in 1595 a ...

and the

Vercelli Synagogue The Vercelli Synagogue ( it, Tempio Israelitico) is a synagogue in Vercelli, Italy. The synagogue, located at Via Foà 70, was built in 1878. It was designed by Marco Treves, an architect born in Vercelli who also designed the Great Synagogue of ...

References

{{coord, 45.565491, 8.045117, format=dms, display=title, type:landmark Baroque synagogues in Italy Synagogues in Piedmont

Synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

17th-century synagogues