Rome - Europe's Largest Synagogue and Mosque

Although I knew that Rome's synagogue is the largest in Europe, I only recently learned that the city is also home to the largest mosque in Europe as well.

La Sinagoga

Jews first came to Rome as traders in the 2nd century BC and, despite efforts starting in the 16th century to drive them away, there has been a Jewish community in Rome for more than two millennium.  A papal edict issued by Pope Paul IV in 1555 created the Ghetto; walls and gates were erected to close off the Jewish community in a small area (approximately seven acres) along the Tiber.

Living conditions in the Ghetto were abysmal; approximately 3,500 people were imprisoned in the district each night and the area was prone to flooding.  Finally, nearly 300 years later, another papal order caused the gates to be torn down and the area was transformed into a Jewish quarter.

The synagogue (sinagoga in Italian) was built between 1901 - 1904.  Its distinctive four-sided, aluminum sheathed dome sets it apart from the other religious structures in the city and makes it instantly recognizable.

Relatively peaceful cohabitation of Catholics and Jews in Rome lasted for slightly more than 50 years, until October 16, 1943, when the occupying Germans raided the Ghetto and rounded up the residents.  More than 2,000 Roman Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps; very few of them returned.

The synagogue complex also houses the Jewish museum of Rome.  You can read more about the museum here.

The mosque is a new addition to Rome, completed in 1995.