The Synagogue of Livorno is a historic synagogue in

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

, Italy.

''Tempio Maggiore'' (1603)

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 ...

, called ''

Tempio Tempio Pausania (; sdn, Tèmpiu) is a town of about 14,000 inhabitants in the Gallura region of northern Sardinia, Italy, in the province of Sassari. History Cultural and delegated administrative centre of the Gallura sub-region, Tempio has an ...

Maggiore'', dates back to 1603. The synagogue was built in a modest and simple style by Claudio Cogorano and

Alessandro Pieroni Alessandro Pieroni (18 April 1550 in Impruneta – 24 July 1607 in Livorno) was an Italian architect and painter. He was active mainly in a Mannerist style, working for the courts of Grandukes Francesco I and Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke ...

. In the following years the synagogue was enlarged to accommodate an increase of Livorno's Jewish population to approximately 3,000 people. The project to build a larger worship hall and to add galleries was undertaken by Francesco Cantagallina in 1642. The

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- ...

was built with inlaid colored marble by Isidoro Baratta from

Carrara Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...

, surmounted by a silver crown with a

topaz Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al Si O( F, OH). It is used as a gemstone in jewelry and other adornments. Common topaz in its natural state is colorless, though trace element impurities can mak ...

set on it. The bimah was built with the same technique, and the ceiling was enriched with stuccoes, decorations and gilt. The temple underwent structural renovation by Ignazio Fazzi following an earthquake in 1742. In addition, a second row of gallery was built for women. After the work was completed, the temple hall was the second largest after that of the Synagogue of Amsterdam, measuring 28 meters long by 26 meters wide. On September 20, 1789, the first evening of

Rosh Hashanah Rosh HaShanah ( he, רֹאשׁ הַשָּׁנָה, , literally "head of the year") is the Jewish New Year. The biblical name for this holiday is Yom Teruah (, , lit. "day of shouting/blasting") It is the first of the Jewish High Holy Days (, , " ...

5550 according to the

Hebrew calendar The Hebrew calendar ( he, הַלּוּחַ הָעִבְרִי, translit=HaLuah HaIvri), also called the Jewish calendar, is a lunisolar calendar used today for Jewish religious observance, and as an official calendar of the state of Israel. I ...

, the newly renovated synagogue was inaugurated. In the 19th century the synagogue was further expanded, and a new southern façade was built. The Synagogue of Livorno was partially destroyed 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 ...

''Tempio Maggiore'' (1962)

The new Synagogue of Livorno is the main

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

place of worship of the 700 Jews of Livorno who survived

The Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

. The Temple is located in ''Piazza

Elijah Benamozegh Elijah Benamozegh, sometimes Elia or Eliyahu, (born 1823; died 6 February 1900) was an Italian Sephardic Orthodox rabbi and renowned Kabbalist, highly respected in his day as one of Italy's most eminent Jewish scholars. He served for half a cen ...

'', not far from ''Piazza Grande'', on the site of the ancient synagogue which was partially destroyed during World War II. It is one of the four synagogues built in the 1900s in Italy and is the only one erected after World War II. The synagogue was projected by the Italian architect Angelo Di Castro, the works began in 1958 and it was inaugurated on October 23, 1962. The Temple is a modern, bold and original construction in reinforced concrete inspired by the tent in the desert in memory of

The Exodus The Exodus (Hebrew language, Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, ''Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim'': ) is the founding myth of the Israelites whose narrative is spread over four books of the Torah (or Pentateuch, corresponding to the first five books of the ...

assigned to the guard of the

Ark of the Covenant The Ark of the Covenant,; Ge'ez: also known as the Ark of the Testimony or the Ark of God, is an alleged artifact believed to be the most sacred relic of the Israelites, which is described as a wooden chest, covered in pure gold, with an e ...

. At the centre of the synagogue is positioned the bimah, built with marbles recovered from the old destroyed synagogue; in front of it is the wooden

by Angelo Scoccianti, work dating from 1708 recuperated from the Synagogue of

Pesaro Pesaro () is a city and ''comune'' in the Italian region of Marche, capital of the Province of Pesaro e Urbino, on the Adriatic Sea. According to the 2011 census, its population was 95,011, making it the second most populous city in the Marche, ...

. The

Matroneum A triforium is an interior gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be located ...

is placed on the back of the bimah at the first floor while in the superior part of the

apse In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

is a red stained glass in memory of the victims of The Holocaust. In the lower level is the ''

Oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

Lampronti'' where the bimah and the Torah ark come from the Temple of Spanish rite of

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

; the Oratory is used as synagogue in the winter time.

References

{{Coord, 43, 32, 56, N, 10, 18, 33, E, type:isle, display=title Synagogues in Italy Buildings and structures in Livorno Jews and Judaism in Livorno Religious buildings and structures completed in 1603 Religious buildings and structures completed in 1789 Synagogues completed in 1962 1603 establishments in Italy 17th-century synagogues Sephardi Jewish culture in Italy