Scuola Spagnola (Spanish Synagogue), Venice

The Spanish Synagogue stands as one of the two synagogues that still hold daily services in the Jewish Ghetto of Venice; open for services from Passover until the end of the High Holiday season. Founded by Jews who had been expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in the 1490s and found refuge in Venice (typically via Amsterdam, Livorno, or Ferrara, during the 1550s), it stands as a testament to their enduring spirit. Among all the synagogues in Venice, the Spanish Synagogue reigns supreme in terms of size, opulence, and renown.

The four-story yellow stone building was constructed in 1580 and was restored in 1635 by Baldassare Longhena, architect of numerous Venetian "scuole" and palaces. Initially a clandestine synagogue, it was tolerated on the condition that it be concealed within a building that gives no appearance being a house of worship form the exterior. The interior, on the other hand, is elaborately decorated, containing three large chandeliers and a dozen smaller ones, as well as a huge sculpted wooden ceiling.

In the hall, to the left is a small Midrash which has retained its original characteristics. On the back wall there is a tablet with the names of the Jews deported from Venice in the years 1943-44 while numerous other tablets on the side walls commemorate many members of well known Venetian families: Treves, Maurogonato, Gentilomo, Belilios, Coen, Caravaglio. On the stairs one finds an ancient alms box.