Ahrida Synagogue
Ahrida Synagogue
4.5
9:15 AM - 11:00 PM
Monday
9:15 AM - 11:00 PM
Tuesday
9:15 AM - 11:00 PM
Wednesday
9:15 AM - 11:00 PM
Thursday
9:15 AM - 11:00 PM
Friday
9:15 AM - 11:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
About
The Balat district, between Ayvansaray and Fener, was the most important Jewish settlement in istanbul during the 17th century. Some claim that its name derives from a Turkish rendering of the Greek "palation," or palace, owing to the presence of the nearby Blahernai (Vlaherna) palace. According to others, the name derives from the old, Western Anatolian city of "Piletos," from which many of the districts Roma population had migrated.
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The area
Neighbourhood: Fener & Balat
This sleepy and rather socially conservative area of Istanbul hosts a small but thriving Jewish community, the patriarchate of the Eastern Orthodox Church, and some of the most beautiful churches and Christian art in the world. Much of what’s most interesting to witness in Fener and Balat sits between the surviving ancient city walls of Constantinople and the serene shores of the Golden Horn. Despite the many splendid sights, historic attractions, stunning vistas, and warm Turkish welcome, the area remains largely unperturbed by the tourist trade that characterizes the atmosphere in nearby Sultanahmet and around the Grand Bazaar. Travelers that like to explore off the beaten track will reap big rewards for making the effort to visit this low-key part of town.
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4.5
9 reviews
Excellent
6
Very good
2
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0
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Terrible
1
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junior1907
Istanbul, Türkiye195,982 contributions
Aug 2014 • Business
Ahrida (Ohrid) Synagogue is one of the oldest synagogues of İstanbul and it is located in Balat district of İstanbul,the Jewish quarters of the city.This has been renovated in 1992 and had its final shape and status.Worth to visit it.
Written 3 August 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
jacktwist00
Sao Paulo, SP207 contributions
Dec 2017 • Solo
Very beautiful synagogue with a boat-shaped bimah. I am giving 5 stars for Architectural purposes only. The visit was lame. The building was open for me and another traveller for 30 minutes. When entering the synagogue, I was informed pictures were not allowed and I did not understand why as it is allowed in the other synagogues. No explanation inside so I suggest that you do your homework before you go. I did but it would have been so nice if someone was there to guide me as I am sure I missed some details.
Written 7 January 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Rachael2400
New York City, NY44 contributions
Aug 2017 • Couples
Beautiful synagogue. I got to visit a few synagogues on my trip and I can definitively say that the previous post has some pictures from Ahrida but the exterior synagogue picture is that of another synagogue and not that of Ahrida's.
Written 5 September 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
investigator64
Ivanovo, Russia45,861 contributions
Nov 2022 • Couples
My place of deployment during the Istanbul voyage in 2022 was the Balat district. Personally, I liked him in all respects - both in the side and in the people. Relatively quiet and calm, all the necessary infrastructure is within walking distance, all around 360 degrees - a lot of interesting objects.
And before the trip, I read that Balat has been a thriving Jewish quarter of the city since ancient times, and it is here that the oldest of Istanbul’s synagogues, the Ahrida Sinagogu, is located. As it turned out, from my place of residence on Hızır Çavuş Mescidi Sokak to this ancient Jewish prayer house is only a little more than a hundred meters!!!
It was enough to go out onto Vodina Street, turn left and walk at a leisurely pace to the intersection with Ayan Street, and you find yourself in front of the entrance to the territory of this religious building of the Jews. During my previous travels, I did not come across synagogues so often - mainly in Prague (I visited about a dozen of them there).
I already mentioned in one of my posts that synagogues should not be confused with the temples that are familiar to most of us. At least, the Jews themselves claim that the synagogue is not a temple, but a place for prayer and ritual reading of the Torah: members of the Jewish community gather there, where they study sacred texts, celebrate holidays and perform their rituals.
But let's return to our object!!! There is little documentary evidence of the origins of Istanbul's Ahrida Sinagogu: according to some sources, it was founded in 1427 by Romaniote Jews, members of the Greek-speaking ethnic Jewish community living in the Eastern Mediterranean, considered one of the oldest existing Jewish communities in the world and the oldest Jewish community in Europe.
The Romaniotes in question were Macedonian Jews, originally from the city of Ohrid (now a city in the Republic of North Macedonia, which is famous for once having 365 (!!!) churches, one for each day of the year, and was called the “Balkan Jerusalem").
In honor of their city, the Romaniotes named the synagogue - the Ahrida Synagogue. The latter is the oldest synagogue in Istanbul and the only synagogue founded in the Byzantine period. The first Turkish mention of this religious building dates back to 1693: in a certain Sultan’s decree it was stated that Ahrida Sinagogu already existed before “Feth-i Hakani’den” (“İstanbul’un Fethi”), that is, before the conquest of the capital of the Byzantine Empire - Constantinople - army of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.
The last one, as you remember, happened in 1453. Over the centuries, the Ahrida Synagogue suffered many times from earthquakes and fires and was then rebuilt. It is believed that the current synagogue building, dating from the late 17th to early 18th centuries and an interesting example of Istanbul Baroque architecture from the “Tulip Age,” was the result of the merger around 1860 of two synagogues that previously existed side by side (possibly one Romaniot and one Sephardic) by demolishing the wall between them. This version, I believe, has a “right to life”: Sephardic Jews arrived in the Ottoman Empire from the Iberian Peninsula in early 1492 at the instigation of Sultan Bayazid II, who sent ships to Spain and Portugal to deliver the Jews to the Ottoman Empire. Many of them initially settled on the shores of the Golden Horn Bay in Eminonu, and then began to settle in Balata and Hasköy. From the 17th century until the founding of the State of Israel, Balat was a predominantly Jewish area with no less than ELEVEN synagogues!!!
Over time, the Sephardim outnumbered the Romaniots, with the latter assimilating into Sephardic culture and adopting the Sephardic liturgy as well as the Sephardic language. Ahrida Sinagogu is famous for its bimah (aka teva/tava), a raised platform on which the Torah scroll is placed for reading.
In this synagogue, the bimah resembles the bow of a ship: according to one version, this shape resembles Noah's Ark, while another supposedly symbolizes the Ottoman galleys that brought Sephardim from Spain to the Ottoman Empire. Alas, I made two attempts to get into the territory of the synagogue and inside the latter, but I was unsuccessful...
I read on the Internet that tourists will not be able to get into this synagogue just like that: they must initially reach an agreement with the Grand Rabbinate of Turkey. I don’t know if this is so, I haven’t checked. Nevertheless, the object is very interesting both historically and religiously.
And before the trip, I read that Balat has been a thriving Jewish quarter of the city since ancient times, and it is here that the oldest of Istanbul’s synagogues, the Ahrida Sinagogu, is located. As it turned out, from my place of residence on Hızır Çavuş Mescidi Sokak to this ancient Jewish prayer house is only a little more than a hundred meters!!!
It was enough to go out onto Vodina Street, turn left and walk at a leisurely pace to the intersection with Ayan Street, and you find yourself in front of the entrance to the territory of this religious building of the Jews. During my previous travels, I did not come across synagogues so often - mainly in Prague (I visited about a dozen of them there).
I already mentioned in one of my posts that synagogues should not be confused with the temples that are familiar to most of us. At least, the Jews themselves claim that the synagogue is not a temple, but a place for prayer and ritual reading of the Torah: members of the Jewish community gather there, where they study sacred texts, celebrate holidays and perform their rituals.
But let's return to our object!!! There is little documentary evidence of the origins of Istanbul's Ahrida Sinagogu: according to some sources, it was founded in 1427 by Romaniote Jews, members of the Greek-speaking ethnic Jewish community living in the Eastern Mediterranean, considered one of the oldest existing Jewish communities in the world and the oldest Jewish community in Europe.
The Romaniotes in question were Macedonian Jews, originally from the city of Ohrid (now a city in the Republic of North Macedonia, which is famous for once having 365 (!!!) churches, one for each day of the year, and was called the “Balkan Jerusalem").
In honor of their city, the Romaniotes named the synagogue - the Ahrida Synagogue. The latter is the oldest synagogue in Istanbul and the only synagogue founded in the Byzantine period. The first Turkish mention of this religious building dates back to 1693: in a certain Sultan’s decree it was stated that Ahrida Sinagogu already existed before “Feth-i Hakani’den” (“İstanbul’un Fethi”), that is, before the conquest of the capital of the Byzantine Empire - Constantinople - army of the Ottoman Sultan Mehmed II.
The last one, as you remember, happened in 1453. Over the centuries, the Ahrida Synagogue suffered many times from earthquakes and fires and was then rebuilt. It is believed that the current synagogue building, dating from the late 17th to early 18th centuries and an interesting example of Istanbul Baroque architecture from the “Tulip Age,” was the result of the merger around 1860 of two synagogues that previously existed side by side (possibly one Romaniot and one Sephardic) by demolishing the wall between them. This version, I believe, has a “right to life”: Sephardic Jews arrived in the Ottoman Empire from the Iberian Peninsula in early 1492 at the instigation of Sultan Bayazid II, who sent ships to Spain and Portugal to deliver the Jews to the Ottoman Empire. Many of them initially settled on the shores of the Golden Horn Bay in Eminonu, and then began to settle in Balata and Hasköy. From the 17th century until the founding of the State of Israel, Balat was a predominantly Jewish area with no less than ELEVEN synagogues!!!
Over time, the Sephardim outnumbered the Romaniots, with the latter assimilating into Sephardic culture and adopting the Sephardic liturgy as well as the Sephardic language. Ahrida Sinagogu is famous for its bimah (aka teva/tava), a raised platform on which the Torah scroll is placed for reading.
In this synagogue, the bimah resembles the bow of a ship: according to one version, this shape resembles Noah's Ark, while another supposedly symbolizes the Ottoman galleys that brought Sephardim from Spain to the Ottoman Empire. Alas, I made two attempts to get into the territory of the synagogue and inside the latter, but I was unsuccessful...
I read on the Internet that tourists will not be able to get into this synagogue just like that: they must initially reach an agreement with the Grand Rabbinate of Turkey. I don’t know if this is so, I haven’t checked. Nevertheless, the object is very interesting both historically and religiously.
Written 2 October 2023
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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