Great Synagogue of Barcelona

The Sinagoga Mayor, also known as the Great or Ancient Synagogue, is believed to be an ancient synagogue located in the centre of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It has been described as one of the oldest synagogues in Europe. After many centuries of being used for other purposes, the building re-opened as a synagogue and museum in 2002. Though the synagogue is not open for regular prays services, it is used for special and festive occasions.

Archaeological investigations show that the original structure of the building was built in the third or fourth century, though whether this structure was the synagogue cannot be said with certainty. The building was significantly expanded during the 13th century. King James I visited the synagogue in 1263 at the end of the Barcelona Disputation. Shlomo ben Aderet served as the rabbi of the Sinagoga Major for 50 years.

When the Jews of Barcelona were massacred in 1391, the building was used for many other purposes, with its original use being forgotten. However, in 1987, Jaume Riera y Sans began researching the location of the Sinagoga Major. His research was based on a reconstruction of the route followed by a thirteenth-century tax collector that ended at the Sinagoga Major.

Riera’s work led Miguel Iaffa to examine the exterior of the building and he noted that the structure had been built in compliance with religious requirements that the building should face Jerusalem and that it should have two windows. In fact, the eastward orientation of the building (toward Jerusalem) broke with the northwest/southeast alignment of the streets in its neighborhood. Iaffa purchased the building in 1995 when its owner put it up for sale. The Call Association of Barcelona (Catalan: Associació Call de Barcelona), led by Iaffa, undertook the recovery and restoration of the synagogue. The opening of The Sinagoga Major to the public in 2002 drew in 20,000 visitors during 2005. In 2003, two Canadians became the first couple to be married at the Sinagoga Major in more than 600 years, and in 2006, a New York attorney donated a 500-year-old sefer Torah (Torah scroll) to the synagogue.