Great Synagogue (Oran)
| Great Synagogue of Oran | |
|---|---|
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| Basic information | |
| Location |  Oran, Algeria |
| Affiliation | Orthodox Judaism |
| Rite | Sephardic |
| Status | Mosque |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural style | Moorish |
| Completed | 1918, ceased functioning as a synagogue in 1975 |
The Great Synagogue of Oran (French: Grande synagogue d'Oran, Arabic: معبد وهران العظيم), Algeria, was built and consecrated in 1880 at the initiative of Simon Kanoui, but its inauguration took place only in 1918.[1] Also known as Temple Israelite, it is located on the former Boulevard Joffre, currently Boulevard Maata Mohamed El Habib and is now called the Mosque Abdellah Ben Salem. It was one of the largest and most superb synagogues in North Africa. After Algerian independence, the synagogue was confiscated and converted into a mosque.[2] It was one of at least seventeen synagogues confiscated by the Algerian government.[3]
The Algerian Nationality Code of newly independent Algeria, promulgated in 1963, granted citizenship only to Muslims, requiring that only those individuals whose fathers and paternal grandfathers had Muslim personal status could become citizens of the new state. All Jewish and Christian residents were driven into exile. At the end of the French occupation of Algeria, all French and Jewish Algerians were granted French citizenship, and most had already emigrated to France.[4]
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[edit] Architecture
A British traveller in 1887 described the new synagogue as "new and not imposing." [5] Its style shows Neo-Mudejar and Moorish Revival influences.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
[edit] References
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Synagogues in Algeria |
- ^ http://80.244.168.89/Communities/Archive/Oran.aspAlso
- ^ http://www.algeria.com/blog/visit-the-historical-great-synagogue-of-oran
- ^ Jewish Property Claims Against Arab Countries, Michael R. Fischbach, Columbia University Press, 2008, p. 155
- ^ Algerian Nationality Code, Law no. 63-69 of Mar. 27, 1963, section 34
- ^ Handbook for travellers in Algeria and Tunis, Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Carthage, etc. , Robert Lambert Playfair. pub. J. Murray, 1887, p. 184.
