Four Sephardi Synagogues

Jerusalem


This synagogue complex offers a taster of four places of worship, tightly packed together and able to be visited with a single ticket. The two oldest synagogues date from the late 16th century, and all four were in ruins following the Arab-Israeli War; they were restored between 1967 and 1972. With their associated study houses and charitable institutions, the synagogues were at the centre of the local Sephardi community's spiritual and cultural life until the late 19th century.

The synagogues remain active places of worship and celebration today.

In accordance with a law of the time stating that synagogues could not be taller than neighbouring buildings (and certainly not higher than mosques), these synagogues were embedded deep into the ground – a measure that saved them from total destruction during the bombardment of the Jewish Quarter in 1948. Instead, the synagogues were looted by the Jordanians and used as sheep pens. They were restored using the remains of Italian synagogues damaged during WWII.

The first synagogue in the grouping (closest to the ticket desk) is Eliahu Hanavi synagogue, the oldest of the four; its arches and dome reference Byzantine buildings. The early-17th-century Yokhanan Ben Zahai synagogue is named after a renowned Jewish sage, whose Second Temple study hall is believed to have stood on this spot. The elongated Emtza'i (Middle) Synagogue is the smallest of the four, created when a roof was built over a courtyard between two of the synagogues in the mid-18th century, creating a synagogue in between.

Doors in the Emtza'i lead to a small exhibit about the history of the synagogues, and to the Istanbuli Synagogue, which is the largest of the four and was the last to be built. It was constructed in the 1760s by immigrants from the Turkish city of the same name.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Jerusalem attractions

1. Hurva Square

0.05 MILES

The beating heart of the Old City's Jewish Quarter, Hurva Sq thrums with life: tourists rustle heritage maps of the city, children scamper around the…

2. Cardo Maximus

0.05 MILES

The Cardo was originally a 22m-wide colonnaded avenue flanked by roofed arcades, the main artery of Roman and Byzantine Jerusalem. Following excavations…

3. Hurva Synagogue

0.06 MILES

To the local Jewish community, the reconstructed Hurva Synagogue is a symbol of resilience. The earliest synagogue on this spot was wrecked in the early…

4. Herodian Quarter Museum

0.06 MILES

Descend to Jerusalem's ancient bones at this small subterranean museum. Among its impressively intact archaeological sites is a 600-sq-m Herodian-era…

5. Alone on the Walls Museum

0.07 MILES

Close to the large menorah in the Cardo, the Alone on the Walls Museum presents a Jewish perspective on the May 1948 campaign for control over the city,…

6. Burnt House

0.1 MILES

Buried under rubble for centuries and only recently excavated, this house was destroyed in 70 CE when the Romans put the city to the torch. The…

7. St Mark’s Chapel

0.11 MILES

This medieval chapel is the home of the small Syrian Orthodox congregation in Jerusalem, who believe that it occupies the site of the home of St Mark’s…

8. Dung Gate

0.15 MILES

The most convenient Old City gate for access to the Western Wall. The popular theory as to how this unflattering appellation came about is that at one…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "jerusalem/old-city/attractions/four-sephardi-synagogues/a/poi-sig/1192630/1342523",
      "destination": "Jerusalem",
      "continent": "Middle-East",
      "city": "Jerusalem",
      "position": "superzone"
    }