Sinagoga

Religious buildings

Bologna

Towards the end of the 18th century the Jewish community slowly began to come back to Bologna, from where it had been expelled in 1593. A first small oratory was founded by Angelo Carpi in his house near Piazza Malpighi in 1829. In 1868 the community rented a room in a building in via de' Gombruti, 7. Between 1874 and 1877 a new bigger house of worship after a project by Guido Lisi was opened in the same building, in the wing looking onto the present via Finzi. At the beginning of the 20th century the synagogue was definitely expanded. The new synagogue opened only in 1928 after the First World War; with its majestic liberty-style façade it was a mirror of the importance of the Jewish community living in Bologna at the time. The 1943 air raids destroyed the building: the present synagogue is a modern reconstruction with the same architectural structure. On the ground floor the interior is divided into three naves while the upper floor houses the galleries for women; the roof is a barrel vault and a large round window on the wall depicts the star of David. On the façade looking onto via Mario Finzi a plaque was put up in memory of the 84 Jewish citizens deported to German extermination camps.