Great Synagogue of Bordeaux

Sephardic synagogue in Bordeaux, France

Great Synagogue of Bordeaux

French: Grande synagogue de Bordeaux

The synagogue façade in 2012

Religion
Affiliation| Judaism
Rite| Nusach Sefardi Portuguese
Ecclesiastical or organisational status| Synagogue
Status| Active
Location
Location| 6 Rue du Grand Rabin Joseph Cohen, Bordeaux, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine région
Country| France

Location of the synagogue in France

Geographic coordinates| 44°50′01″N 0°34′26″W﻿ / ﻿44.83361°N 0.57384°W﻿ / 44.83361; -0.57384
Architecture
Architect(s)| 1812:

* Armand Corcelles

1882:

* Charles Bruguet
* Charles Durand
* Paul Abadie

Type| Synagogue architecture
Style| 1812:

* Moorish Revival

1882

* Romanesque Revival
* Byzantine Revival

Funded by| Pereire family (1882)
Date established| c. 1790 (as a congregation)
Completed|

* 1812 (destroyed by fire);
* 1882 (current building)

Construction cost| FF 660,000 (1882)
Materials| Brick

Monument historique

Official name| Synagogue
Type| base Mérimée
Criteria| Patrimoine architectura
Designated| 20 July 1998
Reference no.| PA00083914
[1]

The Great Synagogue of Bordeaux (French: Grande synagogue de Bordeaux) is a Sephardic Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 6 Rue du Grand Rabin Joseph Cohen, in Bordeaux, Gironde, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine région of France.

## History

[edit]

Sephardic Jews first fled to Bordeaux from the Iberian Peninsula following the Alhambra decree in 1492. Their religion was prohibited by several local decrees including in 1734. Following the Declaration of the Rights of Man adopted on August 26, 1789 during the French Revolution, discrimination against citizens was prohibited. In 1790 a partial decree stipulated that Portuguese (Sephardic) Jews were granted citizenship status, and the emancipation of all Jews in France was achieved the following year.[2]

### 19th century

[edit]

A Neoclassical synagogue building was completed in 1812 as the first major synagogue built after Napoleon emancipated France's Jews. In 1873, this building was destroyed by fire.[3]

A new synagogue, designed by Charles Bruguet, with the input of Charles Durand and Paul Abadie, and engineering by Gustave Eiffel, was completed in 1882 on a new site. Costing 660,000 French francs, the building was financed by donations, including significant contributions from the Pereire family, who were bankers, as well as from local and national government. The new synagogue was France's biggest synagogue when it was opened.[4] The building combines Romanesque Revival and Byzantine Revival styles. There are two towers on the façade, similar to bell towers on church façades; some contemporary Jews criticised the design for looking too like a church, and refused to give over funding for the towers to be topped with bulbs. At the top of the façade there is a sculpture of the Tablets of Stone bearing the Ten Commandments.[4]

### 20th century

[edit]

During the German occupation of France in World War II, Jews were interned at the synagogue before being deported to concentration camps; the building was then pillaged. After the war, restoration took place and the building returned to its original plan in 1956.[4] The synagogue became the largest Sephardic synagogue in France.[2]

The number of Jews in Bordeaux grew significantly during the 1960s, as Jews who lived in the French colonies in North Africa fled from the newly decolonised Arab and Muslim states that were less tolerant of Judaism.[5]

On 20 July 1998, the synagogue was classed as a monument historique.[1][6]

## See also

[edit]

* France portal
* Judaism portal

* History of the Jews in France
* List of synagogues in France

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Base Mérimée: Synagogue, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
2. ^ a b "Bordeaux". The Cultural Guide to Jewish Europe. n.d. Retrieved June 12, 2024.
3. ^ "Interior of the Synagogue in Bordeaux with its Architect, A. Corcelles". Musée d'Art et d'Histoire du Judaïsme. March 15, 2017. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
4. ^ a b c Ghiuzeli, Haim F. "The Great Synagogue in Bordeaux, France". ANU - Museum of the Jewish People. Archived from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
5. ^ Juppé, Alain (October 18, 2018). Dictionnaire amoureux de Bordeaux (in French). Place des éditeurs. ISBN 978-2-259-26860-8. Archived from the original on March 27, 2022. Retrieved March 27, 2022.
6. ^ De Almeida, Justine (September 18, 2015). "Onze lieux de culte à visiter lors des journées du patrimoine" [Eleven places of worship to visit on heritage days]. La Croix (in French). Archived from the original on October 23, 2019. Retrieved March 27, 2022.

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Grande synagogue de Bordeaux.

* "Visite de la Synagogue de Bordeaux" [Visiting the Synagogue of Bordeaux] (in French). Communauté Juive Nouvelle Aquitaine. Retrieved March 27, 2022.

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Synagogues in France

By region / city

Current|

| Paris|

* Adath Shalom
* Agoudas Hakehilos
* Chasseloup-Laubat
* Communauté Juive Libérale
* Don Isaac Abravanel
* European Jewish Center
* Grand Paris
* Kehilat Gesher
* Montmartre
* de Nazareth
* des Tournelles
* Union Libérale Israélite de France
* Vincennes

|

* Amiens
* Arcachon
* Belfort
* Beth Meir (Bastia)
* Besançon
* Great (Bordeaux)
* Caen
* Fontainebleau
* Guebwiller
* Hochfelden
* Ingwiller
* Lille
* Lyon
* Great
* Keren Or
* Great (Marseille)
* Neuilly
* Nice
* Rouen
* Saint-Avold
* Saint-Étienne
* Traenheim
* Rashi (Troyes)
* Versailles
* Liberal Jewish Movement of France

Former|

* Or Thora (Marseille)
* Sedan
* du Quai Kléber (Strasbourg)
* Vesoul

* List of synagogues

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