Talmud Torah Synagogue (Sinagoga Hevra)

Talmud Torah Synagogue (Sinagoga Hevra)

The synagogue located on Havra Street and known to have been built in the 17th century is called Kedose, Bet-illel Hevra and Talmud Tora. This synagogue; Palaci's tomb, together with the Gürçeşme Jewish Cemetery, forms the sacred triangle that Jews regard as sacred and visited in various periods.

Since the building is one of Sephardic synagogues, it was built in a central plan. The main place is reached through an entrance hall. Mehizah is located on the upper floor of this entrance section. The interior of the synagogue is twice as high and it is a total volume. The plan scheme of the synagogue is structured in the style of the Etz Hayyim Synagogue.

The main site is accessed from an entrance hall. In this entrance space, there is a small front-synagogue with a tevya in the middle for rituals that can be held on other days and where there will be few attendance. The ground floor of the Talmud Torah Synagogue is built of stone bricksand the upper floor is built as a wooden carcass. The ceiling tiles are wooden and the roof of the building is wooden construction. The floor tiling is stone. The tevya on the platform, which resembles an ancient galley with its wooden workmanship raised with eight steps, was removed to the part where the roof is steady in order not to damage the roof of the building due to the collapse of a part. Due to the collapse of the roof of the heikal wall where the torah closet is located, the decoration of the torah cupboard and the heikal wall were damaged.

The middle ceiling, which is separated by four columns carrying the roof and dividing the ceiling into nine parts, differs from the others with its ornaments in red and green geometric form. It is a Sephardic synagogue due to its 17th century structure and it was built in a central plan. It is original as it was built for the second time by Manuel de Ciaves, with everything except building paints. As in the Talmud Torah Synagogue, it is accessed to the main site of the synagogue from an entrance hall. Above this entrance place is mehizah. The entrance area has been arranged as a front-synagogue, as in both the Talmud Torah Synagogue and the Etz Hayim Synagogue. The main space is two floors high and is a whole volume.

Some of the synagogues in Ottoman cities have prisons belonging to the community in the basement floors. It is thought that the basement of the Bikur Cholim Synagogue was used for this purpose. There are geometric ornaments reminiscent of Greek architecture on the porch of the Torah closet. Bikur Cholim Synagogue has interior decorations and richly colored decorations.

The history

The building is located on Ikicesmelik Street. Bikur Cholim Synagogue was built in 1724 by Salamon de Ciaves, a Dutch-born Jew from Izmir. On this date, houses and shops next to the building were connected to the synagogue to generate income. The single-storey additional buildings in front of the building separate the synagogue from Ikicesmelik Street, but they do not prevent it from being seen because they are single-storey. The building was rebuilt by Manuel de Ciavas after it burnt down in the fire in 1772. The synagogue, which was restored by Hacez Brothers in 1838, was restored in 1870 after it burnt down in 1841.