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Sinagoga de Cordoba

Sinagoga de Cordoba Córdoba, Spain

Stucco Decoration
Detail of Mudejar stucco decoration and Hebrew inscriptions. Sinagoga de Cordoba, 1350. Jewish Quarter, Cordoba, Andalusia, Spain. Image credit: Holly Hayes

Overview
old-fashioned flower design element

The Synagogue of Cordoba is located in the heart of Cordoba's picturesque Juderia (Jewish quarter), just two blocks west of the Mezquita. The Sinagoga no longer functions as a place of worship, but it is an important historical monument and a treasured symbol for Spain's modern Jewish communities.

History
old-fashioned flower design element

Cordoba's synagogue was built in 1350. It is the only synagogue in Andalusia to survive the expulsion and inquisition of the Jews in 1492 and one of only three ancient synagogues left in all of Spain (the other two are in Toledo).

After the Jews were expelled from Spain in 1492, the synagogue of Cordba was turned into a hospital. It became a Catholic chapel in 1588. Today it is a museum.

Description
old-fashioned flower design element

The outside of the synagogue is quite plain, but the interior features exquisite Mudéjar stucco tracery of plant motifs. A Hebrew inscription indicates the date of the synagogue's construction. The women's gallery, not open for visits, still stands, and in the east wall is the ark where the sacred scrolls of the Pentateuch were kept.