Ahrida Synagogue of Istanbul

Ahrida Synagogue
Hebrew: קהל קדוש אכרידה
The entrance to the synagogue in 2022
Religion
Affiliation	Orthodox Judaism
Rite	Nusach Sefard (Eastern)
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Synagogue
Status	Active
Location
Location	Balat, Fatih, Istanbul
Country	Turkey
The synagogue in Fatih, Istanbul
Geographic coordinates	41°01′58″N 28°56′44″E
Architecture
Type	Synagogue architecture
Style	Ottoman Byzantine
Completed	c. 1430 Renovations: 1694, 1732, 1840, 1893, 1926, 1955, 1992
Materials	Stone

The Ahrida Synagogue (Hebrew: קהל קדוש אכרידה), or Ohrid Synagogue, is a Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Ayvansaray Mahallesi, in Balat, a once a thriving Jewish quarter of the city, in Fatih, in the Istanbul Province of Turkey. Completed in c. 1430, the synagogue is one of the oldest in the city.

History

It was built by Romaniotes (Greek Jews), dating from the 1430s, from the city of Ohrid (called 'Ahrid' in Greek) in what was then the Ottoman Empire and is now North Macedonia. Neve Shalom is said to have moved to Constantinople more than 550 years ago. 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). Ahrida Synagogue is also the only synagogue in Istanbul at which Sabbatai Zevi, founder of the Jewish Sabbatean movement, prayed.

See also

• History of the Jews in Turkey
• History of the Jews in Greece
• List of synagogues in Turkey
• Romaniotes
• Jewish ethnic divisions § Geographic distribution

External links

• "Chief Rabbinate of Turkey". Archived from the original on May 13, 2007.
• "Home page". Shalom Newspaper (in Turkish). Archived from the original on October 17, 2007.
• "Ahrida Synagogue of Istanbul". I was in Turkey. Archived from the original on May 21, 2010.
• "Ahrida Synagogue" (panoramic images of the synagogue interior). Synagogues360. 2024.