Tempio Maggiore - Sinagoga
The Great Synagogue is the main synagogue of Rome, one of the largest in Europe. It was built between 1901 and 1904, when Vittorio Emanuele II demolished and rebuild the Roman Ghetto and granted citizenship to Italian Jews. The decoration was entrusted to major Nouveau artists: the glassmakings were by Caesar Picchiarini and paintings by Domenico Bruschi and Annibale Brugnoli. Externally, the Synagogue has a square base with sand-colored walls, topped by a large dome. Inside, the building is divided into two levels: one underground and the other at ground level. The underground floor houses the rich Museum of the Jewish Community of Rome and a room where the headquarters of the "Little Synagogue", called Spanish Synagogue, set up with part of the furniture from five scole (Castilian, Catalan, Sicilian, Italian and Nova) once existing inside the Ghetto. In the Museum are on display clothing of the Jewish tradition, a Aron Ha-Kodesh and a candlestick from. Tthe ground floor houses the "Great Synagogue": a large central room and two small aisles, in the bottom of which were placed two small Aron Ha-Kodesh. On three sides of the Temple, in a raised position, there is an area dedicated to women, the women's gallery. The entire interior is richly decorated with oriental motifs. For Roman Jews the Synagogue is not only a place of prayer, a fundamental cultural landmark.
