Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue Alexandria Egypt tours, prices, booking
Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue Alexandria is a Jewish synagogue in Alexandria, Egypt. In fact, the synagogue located in Nabi Daniel street and built in 1354. The synagogue bombed by the French during their invasion of Egypt in 1798. Egyptian Jews constitute one of the oldest an youngest Jewish communities in the world. The historic core of the indigenous community consisted of Arabic-speaking Rabbanites and Karaites. After their expulsion from Spain, Sephardi and Karaite Jews began to emigrate to Egypt. Their numbers increased with the growth of trading prospects. It was after the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869.
Jews from territories of Ottoman Empire, Italy and Greece went to main cities of Egypt. They settled there where they thrived. The Ashkenazi community, confined to began to arrive in the aftermath of the waves of pogroms. It hit Europe in the latter part of the 19th century. In the late 1950s, Egypt expelled its Jewish population and sequestered Jewish owned property. In 2014, the Jewish population of Egypt estimated at less than 40. It down from between 75,000 and 80,000 in 1948.
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Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue re-built in 1850 with contributions from the Mohammad Ali Dynasty. Although services still held in the synagogue, it now caters to a small community of Jewish. This is due to the dwindling number of Jews in Alexandria. In fact, Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue Alexandria is one of the largest synagogues in the Middle East. This magnificent Italian-built structure served Alexandria’s once thriving and cosmopolitan Jewish community. The interior of the synagogue features immense marble columns and space for more than seven hundred people. With brass name plates still affixed to the regular seats of male worshipers.
Since the wars with Israel and the 1956 Suez Crisis, the community has dwindled. Rarely musters the 10 men necessary to hold a service. The synagogue will give you an idea about the Jewish community was like in the prime. Moreover, the synagogue will let you know about more than 50.000 Jews lived in Alexandria.
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The Synagogue s impressive interior will give you an idea of just how vibrant the community was. With towering Italian marble columns and brass nameplates of its male patrons, the synagogue seats over 700 people. There is also extra seating upstairs for women. At the front of the synagogue building there is a closed chamber which holds 30 Torah scrolls. They collected from the city’s other synagogues when they closed.
