Great Synagogue of Rome

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Front view of the Great Synagogue

The Great Synagogue of Rome ( Italian Tempio Maggiore di Roma ) is the largest synagogue in Rome . The historicist building in the form of a Greek cross with a dome visible from afar was built from 1901 to 1904 on the site of the former Roman ghetto . It is considered a symbol of the emancipation of the Jews in Rome and the rapprochement between Popes and Judaism after 1945.

History and planning

View from the Palatine Hill over Rome with the synagogue dome between St. Peter's Basilica , in the foreground the apse of Sant'Anastasia al Palatino

After the unification of Italy and the conquest of Rome in 1870, the old Roman ghetto was abolished and largely demolished, including the building that housed the five old scole (synagogues). In its place, the new synagogue was built in considerable dimensions and clearly visible in the cityscape. It was a "symbol for the liberated, emancipated and self-confident Roman-Jewish community". The design comes from the architects Vincenzo Costa and Osvaldo Armanni .

description

Synagogue dome

The sand-colored building has the shape of a Greek cross and was designed using eclectic and historical stylistic devices. The dome is made of aluminum and is the only one in the city to have a square shape, which makes it stand out in the city ​​skyline . The interior is decorated with geometric and floral ornaments based on designs by Annibale Brugnoli and Domenico Bruschi . The stained glass windows are by Cesare Picchiarini . On the sides, except on the east wall, there are women's galleries . In the side aisles there are two Torah shrines made of colored marble from the old synagogues.

organ

The synagogue has an organ built in 1904 by the Rieger brothers , then in Jägerndorf (Silesia) . The instrument has 17 registers on two manual works and pedal and the symphonic-romantic scheduled . The actions are pneumatic. The organ was last restored in the years 2010 to 2011 by the organ builder Alessandro Giacobazzi (Modena).

I Grand 'Organo C – g 3
1. Principals 8th'
2. Bordone 16 ′
3. Viola di gamba 8th'
4th Flauto conico 8th'
5. Coperto 8th'
6th Ottava 4 ′
7th Flauto di tubo 4 ′
8th. Mistura IV 2 2 ⁄ 3  ′
II Recitativo C – g 3
9. Principale di viola 8th'
10. Flauto di tubo 8th'
11. Salicionale 8th'
12. Voce celeste
13. Fugara 4 ′
Pedals C – f 1
14th Violone 16 ′
15th Subbasso 16 ′
16. Basso ottavo 8th'
17th cello 8th'

In the basement there is a museum on the history of the Jews in Rome and another small synagogue, the Tempio spagnolo . He continues the Spanish tradition of the Scola Catalana and the Scola Castigliana , the synagogues in the ghetto that followed the Sephardic rite . The Tempio spagnolo also contains pieces from the old ghetto synagogues.

Events

On October 9, 1982, Palestinian terrorists carried out a hand grenade attack while visitors were leaving the synagogue on Sabbath morning . A two-year-old boy was killed and 37 people were injured.

The synagogue is a symbolic place in the rapprochement between the popes and Judaism after 1945 . Pope John XXIII stopped unannounced on the morning of March 17, 1962, a Saturday , in front of the Roman synagogue, had the roof of his car opened and blessed the Jews pouring out. Future Rabbi Elio Toaff later recalled that “after a moment of understandable confusion, the Jews surrounded him and applauded him enthusiastically. In fact, it was the first time in history that a Pope blessed the Jews, and this was perhaps the first genuine gesture of reconciliation. ”This symbolic gesture was explicitly followed by Pope John Paul II , when he was the first Pope ever entered a synagogue: he visited it on April 13, 1986, gave a speech and prayed with the Grand Rabbi Elio Toaff. In the eyes of Cardinal Kurt Koch , the fact that the encounter ended with an embrace of the Pope and Toaff had special symbolic power . According to the historian Georg Schwaiger, the event was “recognized as an extraordinary sign of reconciliation throughout the world”. On the centenary of the synagogue's inauguration in 2004, John Paul II wrote in a greeting that his visit in 1986 was “an embrace between brothers” who “found each other after a long time in which there was no lack of incomprehension, rejection and suffering . “As the second Pope Benedict XVI visited the synagogue on January 17, 2010 and also toured the museum.

Web links

Commons : Great Synagogue of Rome  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Thomas Brechenmacher : The Vatican and the Jews. History of an Unholy Relationship from the 16th Century to the Present. Beck, Munich 2005, ISBN 978-3-406-52903-0 , p. 119 .
  2. ↑ Information on the organ at AlessandroGiacobazzi.org (Italian).
  3. ↑ Stefan Nacke: The Church of the World Society. The Second Vatican Council and the globalization of Catholicism. VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2010, ISBN 978-3-531-17339-9 , p. 340, note 50 .
  4. ^ Rolf Rendtorff , Hans Hermann Henrix (Ed.): The churches and Judaism. Documents from 1945–1985. 2nd Edition. Paderborn u. a. 1989, pp. 106-111, here p. 107.
  5. ↑ Address when visiting the Great Synagogue in Rome on April 13, 1986. In: Ansgar Koschel (Ed.): Catholic Church and Judaism in the 20th Century. (= Religion - History - Society. Fundamental Theological Studies. Vol. 26). Lit, Münster 2002, ISBN 3-8258-5507-4 , pp. 135–145 (preview on Google books); Rolf Rendtorff, Hans Hermann Henrix (Ed.): The churches and Judaism. Documents from 1945–1985. 2nd Edition. Schöningh, Paderborn 1989, pp. 106-111; Online version in: Vatican.va . The address is interpreted as follows: Thomas Roddey: The relationship of the church to non-Christian religions. The declaration “Nostra aetate” of the Second Vatican Council and its reception by the Church's Magisterium. (= Paderborn Theological Studies. ) Schöningh, Paderborn 2005, ISBN 3-506-71381-7 , pp. 162–166 .
  6. ↑ Kurt Cardinal Koch: Together to be people of God. Perspectives of the Jewish-Catholic dialogue from Nostra aetate to Benedict XVI. In: Elisabeth Zwick, Norbert Johannes Hofmann (ed.): Dialogue of Religions. An interdisciplinary approach. Lit, Berlin 2013, ISBN 978-3-643-11657-4 , pp. 37–58, here p. 49 .
  7. ↑ Georg Schwaiger: Papacy and Popes in the 20th Century. From Leo XIII. on Johannes Paul II. Beck, Munich 1999, ISBN 3-406-44892-5 , p. 411 .
  8. ↑ Thomas Brechenmacher: The Vatican and the Jews. P. 270 ; Message from John Paul II on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the construction of the Roman synagogue. In: Vatican.va .
  9. ↑ Pope's visit to the Roman synagogue. In: KAS .de , January 20, 2010. See the address of Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni: Il silenzio dell'uomo non sfugge al giudizio di Dio. (PDF; 34 kB) In: Moked.it .

Coordinates: 41 ° 53 ′ 31.6 "  N , 12 ° 28 ′ 40.8"  E