Levantine Synagogue

{{Infobox religious building

| name = Levantine Synagogue

| native_name = {{langx|it|Scola Levantina}}

| native_name_lang =

| image = Schola levantina Facciata.jpg

| image_upright = 1.4

| alt =

| caption = The synagogue façade, in 2014

| religious_affiliation = Judaism

| tradition =

| sect =

| district =

| prefecture =

| province =

| region =

| deity =

| rite = Nusach Sefard

| festival =

| organisational_status = Synagogue

| ownership =

| governing_body =

| leadership =

| bhattaraka =

| patron =

| consecration_year =

| functional_status = Active

| religious_features_label =

| religious_features =

| location = Campiello delle Scuole, Venetian Ghetto, Venice, Veneto

| locale =

| municipality =

| cercle =

| state =

| country = Italy

| map_type = Italy Venice

| map_size = 250

| map_alt =

| map_relief = 1

| map_caption = Location of the synagogue in Venice

| grid_name =

| grid_position =

| sector =

| territory =

| administration =

| coordinates = {{Coord|45|26|41|N|12|19|32|E|region:it_type:landmark|format=dms|display=it}}

| coordinates_footnotes =

| heritage_designation =

| architect = {{ubl|Baldassare Longhena|Andrea Brustolon}}

| architecture_type = {{nowrap|Synagogue architecture}}

| architecture_style = {{ubl|Baroque|Mannerist}}

| founded_by = Levantine Jews

| creator =

| funded_by =

| general_contractor =

| established =

| groundbreaking =

| year_completed = 1541

| construction_cost =

| date_demolished =

| facade_direction =

| capacity =

| length =

| width =

| width_nave =

| interior_area =

| height_max =

| dome_quantity =

| dome_height_outer =

| dome_height_inner =

| dome_dia_outer =

| dome_dia_inner =

| minaret_quantity =

| minaret_height =

| spire_quantity =

| spire_height =

| site_area =

| temple_quantity =

| monument_quantity =

| shrine_quantity =

| inscriptions =

| materials = Stone

| elevation_m =

| elevation_footnotes =

| nrhp =

| designated =

| added =

| refnum =

| delisted1_date =

| website =

| module =

| footnotes = {{cite web |url=https://historicsynagogueseurope.org/browser.php?mode=set&id=9443 |title=Scuola Levantina in Venice |work=Historic Synagogues of Europe |publisher=Foundation for Jewish Heritage and the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem |date=n.d. |access-date=19 August 2024 }}

}}

The Levantine Synagogue ({{langx|it|Scola Levantina}}) is a Jewish congregation and synagogue, that is located on Campiello delle Scuole, in the Venetian Ghetto of Venice, Italy. Designed by Baldassare Longhena and Andrea Brustolon in a mix of the Baroque and Mannerist styles, the synagogue was completed in 1541. The congregation worships in the Sephardic rite.{{cite book |author=Touring Club Italiano |author-link=Touring Club Italiano |title=Venezia |publisher=Biblioteca di Repubblica, Italia |year=2005 |editor=Touring club italiano - Gruppo editoriale L'Espresso |volume=5 |location=Milano - Rome |language=it |oclc=799224309 |ref=Venezia Touring}}

History

The synagogue was founded in 1541, and underwent total reconstruction about a century later.{{Cite web |title=Le sinagoghe sono l'anima del ghetto |url=https://www.museoebraico.it/le-sinagoghe/ |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180628091356/https://www.museoebraico.it/le-sinagoghe/ |archive-date=2018-06-28 |access-date=5 July 2023 |website=Museo Ebraico de Venezia}} It is believed that Baldassare Longhena worked on the exterior of the building, and Andrea Brustolon on the interior, specifically the pulpit.{{Cite web |title=Scuola Levantina |url=http://www.italia-ebraica.it/a.cfm?id=2963 |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=www.italia-ebraica.it |language=it}} The Levantine Synagogue is so named due to its founders being Eastern Sephardim from the Ottoman Empire as well as the Venetian colony of Corfu in what is now Greece. The ancestors of these Levantine Jews were originally from Portugal and Spain.{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/venices-frayed-shrinking-500-year-old-jewish-ghetto-is-planning-a-renaissance/ |title=Venice's frayed, shrinking 500-year-old Jewish Ghetto is planning a renaissance |publisher=The Times of Israel |accessdate=2023-12-29}}

The synagogue was extensively restored between 1976 and 1981.{{cite web |url=https://www.savevenice.org/project/scuola-levantina |title=Scuola Levantina in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice |work=Save Venice Inc. |date=n.d. |access-date=2023-12-29 }}

Description

The design of the synagogue is reminiscient of the Venetian Ghetto in the Cannaregio sestieri. The presence of the building is inconspicuous, as it is not well-accentuated on the outside.{{clarify|date=July 2023}} Only the windows, which are larger than a typical building's, stand out as different than the average dwelling, although the inside is far more intricate than the outside.

The synagogue is located in the Campiellio de le Scuole area of the Ghetto.{{Cite web |title=Scola Levantina |url=http://jvenice.org/it/scola-levantina |url-status=deviated |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190626193250/http://jvenice.org/it/scola-levantina |archive-date=2019-06-26 |access-date=5 July 2023 |website=jvenice.org |language=it}} Many external details are typical of Longhena's work, with a prominence of entablatures and volutes in the keystone, mirrored walls, the ashlar plinth, ovulate windows in the attic, and the doors' intricately carved decorations.{{cite book |last=Bassi |first=Elena |title=Architettura del Sei e Settecento a Venezia |year=1962 |publisher=Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane |location=Naples |page=118 |language=it |ref=Bassi 1962}}

File:Scola levantina (Venice) 02.jpg

In contrast to the exterior, the interior is rich and refined. The floor contains the scola luzzatto, normally used as a study. Up the steps on the bimah, adorned with Solomonic columns with floral decorations, is the rabbi's lectern. The pulpit floor leads to three windows. Opposite to the bimah is the Aron haQodesh, engraved with the Ten Commandments, with the Hebrew date 5542, corresponding to the year 1782. A mechitza is visible and separates the higher women's gallery from the men's. On both sides, a boiserie covers the walls, depicting biblical narratives.{{Cite web |title=Scola Canton |url=https://www.visitjewishitaly.it/listing/scola-canton/ |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=Visit Jewish Italy |language=it-IT}}