The Great Synagogue of Bordeaux (french: Grande synagogue de Bordeaux) is the main

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 ...

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

, France.

Background and description

Sephardic Jews first came to Bordeaux following their expulsion from 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 ...

in 1492 due to the

Alhambra decree The Alhambra Decree (also known as the Edict of Expulsion; Spanish: ''Decreto de la Alhambra'', ''Edicto de Granada'') was an edict issued on 31 March 1492, by the joint Catholic Monarchs of Spain ( Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Arag ...

. Their numbers were boosted in the 1960s by Jews who left the newly decolonised former French colonies in North Africa. The building was the first major synagogue built after

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

emancipated France's Jews; it was finished in 1812. In 1873, it was destroyed by fire, being rebuilt nine years later. The new building on a new site was designed by Charles Bruguet, followed by Charles Durand and

Paul Abadie Paul Abadie (9 November 1812 – 3 August 1884) was a French architect and building restorer. He is considered a central representative of French historicism. He was the son of architect Paul Abadie Sr. Abadie worked on the restoration of Not ...

. The 660,000 French franc cost came from donations, including significant contributions from the

Sephardic Jewish Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefar ...

Pereire banking family, as well as from local and national government. It was France's biggest synagogue when it was reopened. While the first synagogue was built in the Neoclassical style, the current one combines Romanesque and

Byzantine Revival Neo-Byzantine architecture (also referred to as Byzantine Revival) was a revival movement, most frequently seen in religious, institutional and public buildings. It incorporates elements of the Byzantine style associated with Eastern and Orthod ...

. While there are some elements of Oriental styles, it is not built in the

Moorish Revival Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...

style that was popular for other synagogues at the time. There are two towers on the facade, similar to bell towers on church facades; some contemporary Jews criticised the design for looking too like a church, and refused to give over funding for the towers to be topped with bulbs. At the top of the facade there is a sculpture of the

Tablets of Stone According to the Hebrew Bible, the Tablets of the Law (also Tablets of Stone, Stone Tablets, or Tablets of Testimony; Biblical Hebrew: לוּחֹת הַבְּרִית ''lûḥōt habbǝrît'' "tablets of the covenant", לֻחֹת הָאֶבֶן ' ...

bearing the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

Recent events

During the German occupation of France in World War II, Jews were interned at the synagogue before being deported to concentration camps; the building was then pillaged. After the war, restoration took place and the building returned to its original plan in 1956. In July 1998, the synagogue was classed as a ''

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

''.

References

External links

* {{coord, 44.83361, -0.57384, format=dms, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title

Buildings and structures in Bordeaux Buildings and structures completed in 1882 Romanesque Revival architecture in France Byzantine Revival architecture in France Monuments historiques of Gironde

Sephardi Jewish culture in France 19th-century architecture in France