The 9 synagogues built by the Sephardic Jews who migrated to Anatolia from Spain in the Kemeraltı district of İzmir since the 17th century will be brought into tourism with the concept of an open-air museum.
Bikur Holim, Bet Hillel, Portugal, Etz Hayim, Hevra, Şalom, Algazi, Foresteros and Sinyora synagogues are among the most important cultural riches brought to İzmir by the Jews who settled in Anatolia since the 16th century with the support of the Ottoman Empire, which embraced the Jews fleeing the Inquisition.
While some of the synagogues remained open to worship for 300-400 years uninterrupted, some of them became unusable due to earthquakes, fires and neglect, and work was started by the Izmir Jewish Community. Conservation, restoration and conservation works were carried out in the synagogues within the framework of the Izmir Jewish Heritage Project, which is carried out in cooperation with local governments, national and international organizations, and various non-governmental organizations.
It is planned that the first phase of the conservation work on the synagogues and the streets connecting the synagogues will be completed in June this year and the region will be opened to tourism with tour packages. Within the framework of cultural tourism, it is aimed to organize events such as exhibitions and concerts in some synagogues and to make the project more interesting.
İzmir Jewish Heritage Project Coordinator Nesim Bencoya said that they set out to protect the cultural heritage and they were working to establish an open-air museum and visit center in the synagogues area.
THE TARGET IS 300 THOUSAND VISITORS ANNUALLY
Stating that there are 9 synagogues and 1 Chief Rabbinate building in the project, Bencoya explained the work in the buildings as follows:
“We are currently in the recovery phase. There are synagogues that function as a whole and are well-structured, as well as collapsed synagogues. First of all, we are carrying out work to restore and protect those synagogues. We restored Bet Hillel Synagogue and Hayim Palaçi Memorial House with the support of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality. Etz Hayim Synagogue was first rebuilt with the support of the US Embassy, then İZKA and the Izmir Jewish Community. The Hevra and Foresteros synagogues had completely collapsed. We took one under protection last year, and we are continuing the conservation work on the other.”
Bencoya also stated that they will host visitors in the synagogues with the concept of an open-air museum, “We will make all places open to visitors in the middle of this year. This does not mean that the works will be completed, but those who come to the center will be able to visit the center in a way that they can feel the spirit of history.”
