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Synagogue in Istanbul, Turkey
Ahrida (Ohrid) Synagogue
(
Hebrew
:
??? ???? ??????
) is one of the oldest
[1]
synagogues
in
Istanbul
,
Turkey
. It is located in
Balat
, once a thriving
Jewish
quarter in the city.
History
[
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]
It was built by
Romaniotes
(Greek Jews), dating back to the 1430s, from the city of
Ohrid
(called 'Ahrid' in Greek) in what was then the
Ottoman Empire
and is now
North Macedonia
.
[1]
Neve Shalom is said to have moved to
Constantinople
more than 550 years ago.
[
clarification needed
]
Sephardi Jews
arrived in the Ottoman Empire from the
Iberian peninsula
beginning in 1492, and soon were a larger group of Jews in population than the Romaniotes. The Romaniotes of Istanbul, as in many communities, including
Thessaloniki
became assimilated into the Sephardic culture and adopted the Sephardic liturgy as well as the language of the Sefardim,
Judezmo
.
The synagogue building, one of the two ancient synagogues in Istanbul's
Golden Horn
, was renovated in 1992 by the Quincentennial Foundation, in celebration of the 500th anniversary of
Sephardic Jews' arrival in the Ottoman Empire
. Ahrida Synagogue is known for its boat-shaped
tevah
(the reading platform, known in
Ashkenazi
communities as a bimah).
[2]
Ahrida Synagogue is also the only synagogue in Istanbul at which
Sabbatai Zevi
, founder of the Jewish
Sabbatean
movement, prayed.
[3]
See also
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]
References and notes
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]
External links
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]