Synagogue of St Mary the White II

by Joan Carroll

Title

Synagogue of St Mary the White II

Artist

Joan Carroll

Medium

Photograph - Photography And Digital Art

Description

The name just about says it all: Sinagoga de Santa Maria la Blanca (Synagogue of St Mary the White) in Toledo Spain. Its stylistic and cultural classification is unique as it was constructed under the Christian Kingdom of Castile by Islamic architects for Jewish use. It is considered a symbol of the cooperation that existed among the three cultures that populated the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages. Erected in 1180, it is disputably considered the oldest synagogue building in Europe still standing. The interior features a series of arcades supported on a network of twenty-four octagonal supports which line the central aisle of the synagogue and support the large arcade of horseshoe arches above. The arches rest on intricately detailed capitals with finely carved pinecones and other vegetal imagery. The building ceased to be a synagogue in the year 1411, and it was converted for use as a monastery, and later as an armory and warehouse. The building was eventually declared a national memorial site and restored in 1856, but there were numerous changes and evolutions which the building went through in the interim. The building was, at first used for prayer services, many believe, by recent converts from Judaism to Catholicism. In 1550 the building and its courtyard became the property of an order of monks who sought to purify the building of its Jewish past. They named the building Santa Maria La Blanca, meaning St. Mary the White, in an effort to drive out the perceived "darkness" of the building's Jewish past. Eventually, the monastery abandoned the building, perhaps because the northern wall fell down and that was seen as a bad omen. The building was then used as a warehouse and armory for a company which manufactures bullfight swords to this day. The building is now owned and preserved by the Catholic Church. In 2013, a request was made to the Catholic Church for the return of the building to the Jewish community.

FEATURED PHOTO, Arches -for Artists and Buyers group, 9/3/17

travel, moorish,keyhole, religion, mudejar, spanish, temple, monument, colonnade, columns, hall, landmark, muslim, christian, photography

Protected with PIXSY

Uploaded

August 21st, 2017

Statistics

Viewed 3,362 Times  -  Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/24/2024 at 1:17 AM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags