Mayor Synagogue
Encyclopedia
Mayor Synagogue is a former synagogue
in the Hasköy
district of Beyoğlu
, Istanbul
, Turkey
.
According to historian Lorans Tanatar Baruh, the synagogue was built in the Byzantine
era and was called Mayor because it was the largest in the neighborhood. According to an unspecified historian, however, the synagogue was built 300 to 500 years ago by Jews from Majorca. (According to historian Jak Deleon, in the 1950s there was a Mayorka Synagogue in Hasköy.)
The synagogue is now used as storage space, workshops, and a billiard parlor. In September 2009, artist Serge Spitzer
chose this site for his installation Molecular Istanbul.
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...
in the Hasköy
Hasköy, Istanbul
Hasköy is a neighborhood on the northern side of the Golden Horn in Beyoğlu, Istanbul, Turkey. It includes the officially defined neighborhoods of Keçeci Piri, Piri Paşa, and Halıcıoğlu, and parts of Camiikebir and Sütlüce....
district of Beyoğlu
Beyoglu
Beyoğlu is a district located on the European side of İstanbul, Turkey, separated from the old city by the Golden Horn...
, Istanbul
Istanbul
Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
.
According to historian Lorans Tanatar Baruh, the synagogue was built in the Byzantine
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
era and was called Mayor because it was the largest in the neighborhood. According to an unspecified historian, however, the synagogue was built 300 to 500 years ago by Jews from Majorca. (According to historian Jak Deleon, in the 1950s there was a Mayorka Synagogue in Hasköy.)
The synagogue is now used as storage space, workshops, and a billiard parlor. In September 2009, artist Serge Spitzer
Serge Spitzer
Serge Spitzer is a Romanian-born American artist who uses sculpture, site-specific installations, works on paper, photography and video to question, explore and reflect on the shared reality everywhere. He was born in Bucharest in 1951, and since the early 1980s has lived and worked in New York...
chose this site for his installation Molecular Istanbul.
See also
- History of the Jews in TurkeyHistory of the Jews in TurkeyTurkish Jews The history of the Jews in the Ottoman Empire and Turkey covers the 2,400 years that Jews have lived in what is now Turkey. There have been Jewish communities in Asia Minor since at least the 5th century BCE and many Spanish and Portuguese Jews expelled from Spain were welcomed to the...
- List of synagogues in Turkey
- Mayor Synagogue (Bursa)Mayor Synagogue (Bursa)Mayor Synagogue is a synagogue on Arap Şükrü Street in Bursa, Turkey. It was founded by Jews who settled in the Ottoman Empire after being expelled from Majorca. The present building was built in the 15th century or the late 16th century.The synagogue was in regular use until 1975, when it was...
External links
- Serge Spitzer: Molecular Istanbul, Mayor Synagogue, Istanbul. VernissageTV, 28 September 2009. Video includes many interior and exterior views of the structure.
- http://www.distanz.de/de/books/new-publications/detail/backPID/new-publications/products/serge-spitzer.html New Publication Serge Spitzer / Molecular (ISTANBUL)
- http://www.realitymodels.org Internet site