Scola Spagnola ghetto di Venezia.

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The Spanish Synagogue — (Archivio Venipedia/Bazzmann)

The largest and best known Venetian Scola, whose façade blends in with the neighbouring houses, was built at the behest of a large group of Spanish Jews (more than a thousand people are said to have lived there).

The place, which is the only synagogue in the Venetian ghetto that always remained active except during the years 1943-1945, overlooks the campiello delle Scuole and its entrance is represented by a massive wooden door.

It was founded in the second half of the 16th century on the request of a Spanish Jewish community (and probably also by the Marranos and​ Ponentini Jews ) wh​o were fleeing from the Iberian peninsula. They were welcomed by the ​Serenissima which had proved favorable to the integration, partly due to Spaniards huge economic potential. ​It then seems to have been completely rebuilt a century later with solutions that recall the works of ​Baldassare Longhena​, a probable architect of the Levantine Scola, but the data found is not sufficient to confirm the hypothesis.

The synagogue

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