Great Synagogue (Oran)

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Great Synagogue of Oran
(Abdallah Ibn Salam Mosque)

2011

Basic information
Location Algeria Blvd. Maata Mohamed El Habib, Oran, Algeria
Affiliation Orthodox Judaism
Rite Sephardic
Year consecrated 1918 (ceased functioning as a synagogue in 1975)
Status Mosque
Architectural description
Architectural style Moorish
Completed 1880

The Great Synagogue of Oran (French: Grande synagogue d'Oran, Arabic: معبد وهران العظيم‎), Algeria, was built 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. It was one of the largest and most superb synagogues in North Africa.

After the end of the French rule, the 1963 promulgated Nationality Code of newly independent Algeria 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.[2] Most Jewish residents were then driven into exile and only a few remained behind. The synagogue was confiscated and converted into a mosque in 1975.[3]

The Great Synagogue of Oran was one of at least seventeen synagogues confiscated by the Algerian government.[4] It is now called the Mosque Abdellah Ben Salem.

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.

See also

External links

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Synagogues in Algeria.
  1. ↑ http://80.244.168.89/Communities/Archive/Oran.aspAlso
  2. ↑ Algerian Nationality Code, Law no. 63-69 of Mar. 27, 1963, section 34
  3. ↑ http://www.algeria.com/blog/visit-the-historical-great-synagogue-of-oran
  4. ↑ Jewish Property Claims Against Arab Countries, Michael R. Fischbach, Columbia University Press, 2008, p. 155
  5. ↑ Handbook for travellers in Algeria and Tunis, Algiers, Oran, Constantine, Carthage, etc. , Robert Lambert Playfair. pub. J. Murray, 1887, p. 184.

Coordinates: 35°42′00″N 0°39′01″W / 35.70000°N 0.65028°W / 35.70000; -0.65028

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