Great Synagogue of Marseille

Great Synagogue of Marseille
French: Grande synagogue de Marseille
The synagogue in 2011
Great Synagogue of Marseille is located in Marseille
Great Synagogue of Marseille
Location of the synagogue in Marseille, France
Religion
AffiliationJudaism
RiteNusach Sefard
Synagogue
StatusActive
Location
LocationRue Breteuil, VIe arrondissement, Marseille
CountryFrance
Coordinates43°17′13″N 5°22′39″E / 43.28705°N 5.37752°E / 43.28705; 5.37752
Architecture
ArchitectNathan Salomon
TypeSynagogue architecture
Style
Completed1864
MaterialsStone
Official name
Synagogue dite aussi le grand temple ou la grande synagogue (in French)
TypeBase Mérimée
Designated1 August 2007
Reference no.PA13000053
[1]

The Great Synagogue of Marseille (French: Grande synagogue de Marseille) is a Jewish congregation and synagogue located on Rue Breteuil in the 6th arrondissement of Marseille, France. The building was listed as a monument historique in 2007.[2] The congregation worships in the Sephardi rite.[3]

History

When the previous synagogue on the Rue Grignan was in disrepair and too small, a campaign began in 1855 to raise money for a new site. The design by the architect Nathan Salomon was approved in 1860 and the building finished in 1864.[4]

The synagogue takes the basilica form more commonly associated with ancient Greece and Rome, and churches. It is built in the Romanesque Revival and Byzantine Revival styles, and takes influence from the Synagogue de Nazareth, completed in Paris in 1852. A pulpit and an organ – both also associated more with Christian buildings than Jewish ones – feature inside, and the mix of Western and Oriental designs was chosen to reflect the diversity of the worshippers.[5]

During the German occupation of Marseille in World War II, the synagogue was requisitioned by German forces and used as a stable.[6] In 1943, a bomb placed by the occupiers damaged the building, destroying part of a wall and shattering its stained-glass windows. Following the liberation of Marseille in 1944, the synagogue was repaired in time for the High Holy Days, while its valuable library and Torah scrolls survived the occupation intact.

Then Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve visited the synagogue in January 2016, in solidarity with a local teacher who was attacked by a teenage Islamic State sympathiser.[7] In September 2018, former President of France Nicolas Sarkozy spoke at the synagogue to denounce antisemitism.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Base Mérimée: Synagogue dite aussi le grand temple ou la grande synagogue, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
  2. ↑ "Liste sommaire des UP immeuble" (in French). DRAC Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. p. 6. Archived from the original on February 26, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  3. ↑ "Great Synagogue in Marseille". Historic Synagogues of Europe. Foundation for Jewish Heritage and the Center for Jewish Art at Hebrew University of Jerusalem. n.d. Retrieved June 14, 2024.
  4. ↑ "Synagogue dite aussi le grand temple ou la grande synagogue à Marseille" (in French). Monumentum. Archived from the original on September 24, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  5. ↑ "Marseille - Synagogue, rue de Breteuil" (in French). Ministry of Culture. Archived from the original on March 1, 2022. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  6. ↑ "Jews in Marseille Will Pray on Yom Kippur in Synagogue Used by Germans As Stable". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. September 27, 1944. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Bernard Cazeneuve en visite à la Grande synagogue de Marseille" (in French). France Bleu. January 14, 2016. Archived from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved March 1, 2022.
  8. ↑ Schmit, Philippe; Tonneau, François (September 18, 2018). "Nicolas Sarkozy à la grande synagogue de Marseille : l'antisémitisme "ne s'explique pas, mais se combat."". La Provence (in French). Archived from the original on January 25, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2022.

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