Cherasco Synagogue

Last updated

Cherasco Synagogue
Italian: Sinagoga di Cherasco
Cherasco porta sinagoga.jpg
Entrance to the former synagogue, in 2000
Religion
Affiliation Judaism (former)
Rite Italian rite
Ecclesiastical or organisational status Synagogue
StatusInactive
Location
LocationVia Marconi 4, Cherasco, Piedmont
Country Italy
Piemonte relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location of the synagogue in Piedmont
Geographic coordinates 44°39′3.9″N7°51′27″E / 44.651083°N 7.85750°E / 44.651083; 7.85750
Architecture
Type Synagogue architecture
Style Baroque
Completed18th century
Materials Brick
Website
cherasco1547.org
[1]

The Cherasco Synagogue (Italian : Sinagoga di Cherasco) is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located at Via Marconi 4, in Cherasco, Piedmont, Italy. Designed in the Baroque style, the synagogue was completed in the 18th century. [1]

Contents

History

A Jewish community, engaged in silk production and banking, is recorded in Cherasco from the 16th century onward. A ghetto was defined in 1723, but Jews continued to live outside the ghetto. In 1813, Abramo (Abraham) Debenedetti served on the town council. Emilio Debenedetti, an engineer, designed and constructed the town electrical system. [2]

The Cherasco synagogue is of uncertain date. A date of 5557 (1797) on a stone plaque above a stone basin for ritual washing on a staircase may refer to the date of the synagogue's construction, or of a renovation. [2]

The Cherasco Synagogue is one of about sixteen that survive in Piedmont, including synagogues in Casale Monferrato, Biella and Vercelli. [3]

The synagogue has been preserved, but is no longer in use. It is sometimes open to visitors. [4]

Architecture

The small synagogue is lit by windows overlooking the courtyard. [5] The courtyard location concealed within a residential building is typical of synagogues built in pre-modern Italy. It was a precautionary measure taken so that none of the sounds of Jewish worship should reach Christian ears and possibly provoke a pogrom or repressive anti-Jewish measures. [6] This location also permitted Jews to enter the synagogue without going outside the ghetto. [7]

The 18th-century late-Baroque Torah ark and bimah feature the twisted Solomonic columns long popular in Italian synagogues. The doors of the ark feature the Ten Commandments in gilded lettering. The "elegant" [4] free-standing octagonal bimah is of carved wood with two sides open to allow access, [8] and an elaborately painted and gilded baldachin. Benches for seating are arranged along the walls of the small synagogue. Decorative wall inscriptions include the names of families who once lived in Cherasco. [2]

There is a women's gallery, and a room that once was the school of the small Jewish community. As of 2003, the schoolroom contained an exhibition on "Jewish Life and Culture - Photographic Documentation of the Jewish Presence in the 18th and 19th Centuries," curated by Giorgio Avigdor in 1984. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Venetian Ghetto</span> Neighbourhood in Venice

The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jews were forced to live by the government of the Venetian Republic. The English word ghetto is derived from the Jewish ghetto in Venice. The Venetian Ghetto was instituted on 29 March 1516 by decree of Doge Leonardo Loredan and the Venetian Senate. It was not the first time that Jews in Venice were compelled to live in a segregated area of the city. In 1555, Venice had 160,208 inhabitants, including 923 Jews, who were mainly merchants.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synagogue architecture</span>

Synagogue architecture often follows styles in vogue at the place and time of construction. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. According to tradition, the Shekhinah or divine presence can be found wherever there is a minyan, a quorum, of ten. A synagogue always contains an Torah ark where the Torah scrolls are kept, called the aron qodesh by Ashkenazi Jews and the hekhal by Sephardic Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cherasco</span> Comune in Piedmont, Italy

Cherasco is a comune (municipality) in the Province of Cuneo in the Italian region Piedmont, located about 50 kilometres (31 mi) southeast of Turin and about 40 kilometres (25 mi) northeast of Cuneo. As of 1-1-2017, it had a population of 9096 and an area of 81.2 square kilometres (31.4 sq mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Remah Synagogue</span> Orthodox synagogue in Kraków, Poland

The Remah Synagogue, formally known as the Isaak Jakubowicz Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 40 Szeroka Street, in the historic Kazimierz district of Kraków, in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of Poland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zamość Synagogue</span> Former Orthodox synagogue in Zamość, Poland

The Zamość Synagogue, also the Zamość Old Synagogue or the Great Synagogue of Zamość, is a former Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Zamość, in Lublin Voivodeship, Poland. Completed in 1618 in the Renaissance style, the synagogue is a UNESCO-protected World Heritage Site of Poland. Erected during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, it functioned as a place of worship for Polish Jews until World War II, when the Nazis turned the interior into a carpenters' workshop. The structure was spared from destruction and in 1992 was listed as a World Heritage Site as part of the Old City of Zamość.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kahal Shalom Synagogue</span> Orthodox synagogue in Rhodes, Greece

The Kahal Shalom Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in La Juderia, the Jewish quarter of the city of Rhodes on the island of Rhodes, in the South Aegean region of Greece. Completed in 1577, the synagogue building is the oldest synagogue in Greece. The congregation worships in the Eastern Sephardi rite, predominately in summer months only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ibn Danan Synagogue</span> Synagogue in Fez, Morocco

The Ibn Danan Synagogue is a synagogue in Fes, Morocco, dating from the 17th century. The synagogue is located in the Mellah district within Fes el-Jdid, one of the components of the historic medina of Fes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yu Aw Synagogue</span> Abandoned synagogue in Herat, Afghanistan

The Yu Aw Synagogue is located in the Momanda neighbourhood of the old city of Herat, in western Afghanistan. The area was once known as Mahalla-yi Musahiya, or the "Neighbourhood of the Jews". It is the only synagogue in Herat that has been preserved with most of its original characteristics, although it is currently in a state of disrepair. There is no definitive date of construction of the synagogue. When Israel was founded in 1948, the estimated 280 Jewish families that lived in Herat began leaving. As of 2021, there are no Jews in Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Italian Synagogue (Venice)</span> Orthodox synagogue in Venice, Italy

The Italian Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice, Italy. Completed in 1575, it is one of five synagogues that were established in the ghetto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Synagogue of Aleppo</span> Former synagogue in Aleppo, Syria

The Central Synagogue of Aleppo,, also known as the Great Synagogue of Aleppo, Joab's Synagogue or Al-Bandara Synagogue, has been a Jewish place of worship since the 5th century C.E. in Aleppo. When it functioned, it was considered the main synagogue of the Syrian Jewish community. The synagogue is noted as being the location where the Aleppo codex was housed for over five hundred years until it was removed during the 1947 Aleppo pogrom, during which the synagogue was burned. The synagogue still stands but is in a ruined state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synagogue of Casale Monferrato</span> Synagogue in Casale Monferrato, Italy

The Synagogue of Casale Monferrato is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Vicolo Salomone Olper 44, in the Jewish quarter of Casale Monferrato, Province of Alessandria, in the region of Piedmont, Italy. Built in the Piedmontese Baroque and Mannerist styles, the synagogue was completed in 1595.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Włodawa Synagogue</span> Former Orthodox synagogue complex in Włodawa, Poland

The Włodawa Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue complex, located at 5-7 Czerwonego Krzyża Street, in Włodawa, in the Lublin Voivodeship of Poland. The synagogue complex comprises the Włodawa Great Synagogue, the Small Synagogue or Beit midrash, and a Jewish administrative building, all now preserved as a Jewish museum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wooden synagogues in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth</span> Style of synagogue in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Wooden synagogues are an original style of vernacular synagogue architecture that emerged in the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The style developed between the mid-16th and mid-17th centuries, a period of peace and prosperity for the Polish-Lithuanian Jewish community. While many were destroyed during the First and Second World Wars, there are some that survive today in Lithuania.

The Biella Synagogue is a Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located at Vicolo del Bellone 3, in Biella, Piedmont, Italy. The synagogue was completed in 1780.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tykocin Synagogue</span> Former synagogue in Tykocin, Poland

The Tykocin Synagogue is an historic former Jewish synagogue building, located in Tykocin, Podlaskie Voivodeship, Poland. The synagogue was completed in 1643, in the Mannerist-early Baroque style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scolagrande Synagogue</span> Synagogue in Trani, Italy

The Scolagrande Synagogue is a Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Via la Giudea 24, in the town of Trani, Puglia in Italy. Built by the Italian–Jewish community of Apulia during the Middle Ages and completed in 1247, the building was acquired by the Roman Catholic Church in 1380 and served as St. Anne's Church until it was deconsecrated and returned to the Jewish community in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Padua Synagogue</span> Synagogue in Padua, Italy

The Padua Synagogue, also called the Great Italian Synagogue in Padua, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located at San Martino e Solferino 9, in Padua, Veneto, Italy. Completed in 1548, it is the only synagogue still in use of the several that flourished in the university town of Padua from the Renaissance through World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ferrara Synagogue</span> Synagogue complex in Ferrara, Italy

The Ferrara Synagogue is a Jewish congregation and synagogue complex, that is located at Via Mazzini 95, in Ferrara, in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Designed in the Baroque style, the synagogue complex comprises the Scuola Italiana, completed in 1485 and operated until 1944; the Scuola Tedesca, completed in 1603; and the Scuola Fanese, completed in the 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canton Synagogue</span> Former Orthodox synagogue, now Jewish museum, in Venice, Italy

The Canton Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice, Italy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great German Synagogue</span> Former Orthodox synagogue, now Jewish museum, in Venice, Italy

The Great German Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice, Italy. Completed in 1528, it is the oldest Venetian synagogue, and one of five synagogues that were established in the ghetto.

References

  1. 1 2 "Synagogue in Cherasco". Historic Synagogues of Europe. Foundation for Jewish Heritage and the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. n.d. Retrieved August 19, 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Sacerdoti, Annie (2004). The Guide to Jewish Italy. Rizzoli. p. 30. ISBN   0-8478-2653-8.
  3. Gruber, Ruth Ellen (January 25, 2009). "Italy--Biella Synagogue Restored" . Retrieved September 7, 2009.
  4. 1 2 Gruber, Ruth Ellen (September 30, 1999). "Jewish Open House; Europe Promotes its Jewish Sites by Opening Their Doors". The Jewish Journal . Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 7, 2009.
  5. Pugliese, Stanislao G. (2002). "The Most Ancient of Minorities: the Jews of Italy". Contributions in Ethnic Studies. 36. Greenwood Press: 171.
  6. Krinsky, Carol Herselle (1985). Synagogues of Europe: architecture, history, meaning. New York: Architectural History Foundation. p. 345. ISBN   0-262-11097-0.
  7. Lehmann, Manfred R. (July 14, 1995). "On My Mind: Cuneo and Cherasco; a cultural safari concludes" . Retrieved September 7, 2009.
  8. Dorfman, Rivka; Dorfman, Ben-Zion (July 14, 1995). Cassuto, Noemi (ed.). "The Conegliano Synagogue: Synagogues without Jews, and the Communities that used and built them". The Italian Synagogue through the Ages. Jerusalem Italian Jews Association. Retrieved September 7, 2009.