The Beth Yaakov Synagogue is located in the heart of the Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

 City. It has also been known like the Grande Synagogue. It was built between 1858 and 1859 for the Ashkenazi Jews

Ashkenazi Jews

Ashkenazi Jews, also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim , are the Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north. Ashkenaz is the medieval Hebrew name for this region and thus for Germany...

 community, which was about 200 people during the creation of the Synagogue.

Architecture

The architecture is mixed between the Moorish Revival architecture and Byzantine architecture

Byzantine architecture

Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is today referred to as the Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to...

. The Synagogue

Synagogue

A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...

 was designed by an Swiss Architect Jean Henri Bachofen. At the entrance one can see Moorish style Arches. The platform for reading of the Torah

Torah

Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five books of the bible—Genesis , Exodus , Leviticus , Numbers and Deuteronomy Torah- A scroll containing the first five books of the BibleThe Torah , is name given by Jews to the first five...

, also Bimah

Bimah

A bimah A bimah A bimah (among Ashkenazim, derived from Hebrew בּמה , almemar (from Arabic al-minbar) or tebah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading...

 is located at the front of the Torah ark, at the opposite side of the main entrance. This style became later in the history of world Synagogues. Usually the Bimah was built in the middle. Women have own sections at the both sides of the prayer hall. The building has been listed like a Historic monument (Switzerland)

Historic monument (Switzerland)

In Switzerland, the designation as a historic monument is intended to protect a National Heritage Site such as a monument or a building notable for its history or architecture...

, because of its architecture.