The Split Synagogue in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

is one of the oldest

Sefardi 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 sefa ...

c synagogue still in use today. It was built in the early 1500s. Located on a small street called ''Židovski Prolaz'' (Jewish Lane), the synagogue was built into the western wall of

Diocletian's Palace Diocletian's Palace ( hr, Dioklecijanova palača, ) is an ancient palace built for the Roman emperor Diocletian at the turn of the fourth century AD, which today forms about half the old town of Split, Croatia. While it is referred to as a "palac ...

by Jews escaping the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal. In 1573, a

Jewish cemetery A Jewish cemetery ( he, בית עלמין ''beit almin'' or ''beit kvarot'') is a cemetery where Jews are buried in keeping with Jewish tradition. Cemeteries are referred to in several different ways in Hebrew, including ''beit kevarot'' ...

was approved and built on Marjan Hill, which overlooks the city of Split.

History

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

established the city of

Salona Salona ( grc, Σάλωνα) was an ancient city and the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia. Salona is located in the modern town of Solin, next to Split, in Croatia. Salona was founded in the 3rd century BC and was mostly destroyed in t ...

just north of modern-day Split in the 1st Century, where Jewish traders and craftsmen settled. Archaeological excavations have discovered artifacts of Jewish origin dating from this period, including a pendant, ceramic oil lamps decorated with menorahs, a fragment of a Jewish sarcophagus marked with a menorah, and a tombstones of a Syrian Jew named Malhos. Further excavations suggest the existence of a synagogue dating back to the time of

Diocletian Diocletian (; la, Gaius Aurelius Valerius Diocletianus, grc, Διοκλητιανός, Diokletianós; c. 242/245 – 311/312), nicknamed ''Iovius'', was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Gaius Valerius Diocles ...

who was Roman Emperor from 284 to 305. The arrival of the Avars dispersed the community, but it was revived by the 16th century with the arrival of Sephardi Jews 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 ...

. Then there were two groups of Jews: Ponentine (from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

or Spain) and

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is eq ...

ine (from the Ottoman east). After a great fire ravaged an earlier place of worship in 1507, the Jewish community established the current synagogue in the northwest corner of

. One of the most notable members of the community was Daniel Rodriguez (Daniel Rodriga), who established a prosperous warehouse and business transporting goods from the Orient to Venice. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Italian fascists ransacked the synagogue and destroyed various religious objects, books, and scrolls in a bonfire in the town's main square. The

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

s and

Ustaše The Ustaše (), also known by anglicised versions Ustasha or Ustashe, was a Croats, Croatian Fascism, fascist and ultranationalism, ultranationalist organization active, as one organization, between 1929 and 1945, formally known as the Ustaš ...

then deported the Jews left in the city, with over 50% perishing by the end of the war. The synagogue was restored after World War II, and subsequently renovated in 1996 and 2015. The building also houses the Jewish community headquarters of Split.

Cemetery

The old Jewish cemetery is located on Mount Marjan, a hill overlooking Split. It was established in 1573, and contains 700 tombstones, the oldest dating from 1717. The tombstones are in the Sephardi tradition, with some shaped like a sarcophagus roof, while others are flat, slightly inclined rectangular slabs. The inscriptions in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

, although some of the newer monuments contain either Italian or Croatian. The entrance gate to the cemetery is next to a café that had formerly functioned as a

mikveh Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purif ...

, and still inscribed with the Jewish prayer ''

Tziduk Hadin Tziduk Hadin () is a prayer recited at a Jewish funeral, immediately after the grave has been filled. The prayer affirms that the Divine Judgment is righteous and perfect. It is followed by Psalm 49. It is not recited on various holidays A holid ...

'' at the entrance. The new Jewish cemetery is located in the city's Lovrinac municipal cemetery, which also contains a Holocaust memorial.

References

External links

Židovska općina Split
{{Synagogues in Croatia 16th-century synagogues Buildings and structures in Split, Croatia Museums in Croatia Sephardi Jewish culture in Croatia Sephardi synagogues Synagogues in Croatia