Synagogue on Rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth

Facade facing Rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth

The synagogue on Rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth is the oldest surviving synagogue in Paris . It was inaugurated in 1852 and declared a monument historique ( cultural monument ) in 1986 . It is located at 15 rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth in the 3rd arrondissement . The nearest metro station is Temple on line 3 .

history

As early as 1810, the Ashkenazi Parisian Jews owned two synagogues. One was in the Rue du Temple and the other in the Rue des Archives, both in the Marais district , where large numbers of Jews had settled in the 18th century . In 1819 the Jewish community acquired a piece of land between the streets of Rue du Vertbois and Rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth and received it from the French King Louis XVIII. permission to build a synagogue there. The architect Sandrié de Jouy was commissioned with the construction . It was the first synagogue of the consistory of Paris created under Napoleon in 1808 . Behind the synagogue, on today's Rue Vertbois, was the even more modest synagogue of the Portuguese Jews . Both buildings had already become dilapidated in 1840. They were closed in 1850 and demolished a little later. The Portuguese Jews built a new synagogue on Rue Lamartine in 1851. In 1852 the synagogue on Rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth was inaugurated, which was built according to the plans of the architect Alexandre Thierry (1810-1890). Initially, there was even talk of the Dresden architect Gottfried Semper , who was living in exile in Paris at the time and had commissioned a design from Baron Jakob Rothschild . Until the synagogue on Rue de la Victoire was built , the Synagogue on Rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth remained the main synagogue in Paris. It offered 1,200 places and was soon too small for the Jewish community, which quickly grew to 15,000 members. Since the great immigration of North African Jews in the 20th century, the synagogue has been part of the Sephardic rite.

architecture

The Torah Shrine , Parochet , Ner Tamid and the Bima

Thierry's design envisaged a space-saving iron construction, a solution that initially seemed shocking for a sacred building.

facade

The synagogue is separated from the Rue Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth by a wall with three portals. The motto of the French republic "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" ( freedom, equality, fraternity ) is placed above the central portal . Behind it is a now roofed inner courtyard. The facade of the synagogue is pierced by a rose window with a Star of David . On the gable are the tablets of the law and underneath a clock, in which the numbers have been replaced by the symbols of the zodiac . In the hexagonal corner towers on both sides of the facade, stairs lead to the two floors of the women's galleries .

inner space

Women's gallery

Two rows of six arcades , the narrow pillars of cast iron are carried, the galleries open to the nave . Like the twelve ceilings , they are meant to symbolize the twelve tribes of Israel . The sinuous columns with their decorated warrior capitals are based on Romanesque architecture . The ceiling and walls are painted and provided with symbols and biblical names in Hebrew characters. The choir is raised four steps and separated by a gilded grille.

Furnishing

The bima , referred to as the Tevah by the Sephardic Jews , is in the center of the choir and not, as in the Orthodox synagogues, in the center of the nave. At the end of the choir, the Torah shrine made of white marble rests on nine steps . The tablets of the law are attached to a canopy above.

organ

The synagogue has an organ , which is not allowed in orthodox synagogues. The instrument was built at the end of the 19th century. The organ builder is not known. The organ has eleven stops on two manuals and a pedal. The actions are mechanical.

I Grand Orgue C – f 3 Bourdon 16 ′ Montre 08th' Bourdon 08th' Prestant 04 ′ Duplicate 02 ′

II Récit expressif C – f 3 Viol 8th' Flûte harmonique 0 8th' Trumpets 8th' Clairon 4 ′

Pedale C – f 1 Soubasse 0 16 ′ Flute 08th'

• Coupling : II / I, I / P, II / P

literature

• Jean Colson, Marie-Christine Lauroa (ed.): Dictionnaire des Monuments de Paris . Paris 2003 (1st edition 1992), ISBN 2-84334-001-2 , p. 771.
• Dominique Jarrassé: Guide du Patrimoine Juif Parisien . Parigramme, Paris 2003, ISBN 978-2-84096-247-2 , pp. 45-49.

Web links

Commons : Synagogue of Rue de Notre-Dame-de-Nazareth  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Synagogue Nazareth in the Base Mérimée of the French Ministry of Culture (French)
• Synagogue Nazareth (French)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Information on the organ (French)

Coordinates: 48 ° 52 '0.7 "  N , 2 ° 21' 36.5"  E