The Great Synagogue of Gibraltar, also known as Kahal Kadosh Sha'ar HaShamayim (), is located in the

British overseas territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

, and was the first

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 ...

on the

Iberian Peninsula The Iberian Peninsula (), ** * Aragonese and Occitan: ''Peninsula Iberica'' ** ** * french: Péninsule Ibérique * mwl, Península Eibérica * eu, Iberiar penintsula also known as Iberia, is a peninsula in southwestern Europe, defi ...

to operate since the expulsions from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

in 1492 and 1497 respectively.

History

Sha'ar HaShamayim Synagogue was founded in 1724 by

Isaac Nieto Isaac Nieto (1702–1774) ( he, יצחק ניטו) was Haham of the Portuguese congregation Sha'are Hashamayim, Bevis Marks, London, and the son of David Nieto. He was officially appointed as "ḥakham ha-shalem" in 1733, but gave up the post in 17 ...

from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It was inaugurated in 1724 on a plot of land granted to the Jews by the then Governor of Gibraltar, Richard Kane. Having been rebuilt several times, the present building largely dates from 1812 and shares features in common with the parent

Portuguese Synagogue (Amsterdam) The Portuguese Synagogue, also known as the Esnoga, or Snoge, is a late 17th-century Sephardic synagogue in Amsterdam, completed in 1675. ''Esnoga'' is the word for synagogue in Judaeo-Spanish, the traditional Judaeo-Spanish language of Sephardi ...

(1675) and Bevis Marks Synagogue (1701). The facade of the two-and-a-half-story, domestic-scale building features round-arched windows flanking a round-arched doorway.Sharman Kadish, ''Jewish Heritage in Gibraltar: An Architectural Guide,'' Spire books, Reading, 2007, p. 42

Gallery

File:Door of the Great Synagogue, Gibraltar.jpg, Main entrance to the Great Synagogue. File:Window of the Great Synagogue in Gibraltar.jpg, Window of the Great Synagogue with bilingual sign.

References

{{Authority control 1724 establishments in Europe Orthodox Judaism in Europe Orthodox synagogues Religious organizations established in the 1720s Sephardi Jewish culture in Europe Sephardi synagogues Spanish and Portuguese Jews Synagogues completed in 1812 Synagogues in Gibraltar

History

Gallery

See also

References