Great Synagogue, Byzantine architecture synagogue in central Tel Aviv, Israel
The Great Synagogue is a concrete synagogue in the Byzantine style on Allenby Street in central Tel Aviv, featuring stained glass windows and a rounded dome. The main sanctuary is used for services, while a lower-level room serves daily prayers.
A cornerstone was laid on Yehuda Halevi Street in 1913, but that building was never erected. Richard Michael won the 1914 competition for the Allenby Street site; drafted into the German army, he was replaced by Alexander Baerwald. The cornerstone was laid in November 1921, twelve foundation stones were sold to fund construction, and the synagogue opened in 1925 with a donation from Baron Edmond de Rothschild. Aryeh Elhanani's 1969 renovation added the concrete arched façade.
The Great Synagogue remains an active place of Jewish life in Tel Aviv, where community members gather for Shabbat and religious holidays. Visitors who pass by on a Friday evening can observe worshippers arriving and the festive mood outside the entrance.
The synagogue sits on Allenby Street in central Tel Aviv and is easy to reach on foot from many parts of the city. Visitors should dress modestly, and during services men and women sit in separate areas of the building.
The 1960s renovation added modernist elements onto the original Byzantine structure, so two different architectural styles sit side by side within a single building. This overlap makes the building a rare record of how architectural taste shifted in Tel Aviv across the 20th century.
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