Grand Synagogue of Edirne
The Grand Synagogue of Edirne, also known as the Adrianople Synagogue, is a synagogue, located in Maarif Street, Edirne, in the Marmara region of Turkey.
Completed in 1909 in the Moorish Revival style, the synagogue was restored following World War II, abandoned in the 1980s, and restored as an active synagogue in 2015.
History
The destroyed more than 1,500 houses and also damaged several synagogues in the city. The twenty-thousand strong Jewish community urgently needed a place of worship. Following the permission of the Ottoman Government and the edict of Sultan Abdul Hamid II, the construction of a new synagogue began on January 6, 1906, at the site of the ruined synagogues Mayor and Pulya in Suriçi neighborhood. It was designed by the French architect France Depré in the architectural style of the Sephardi Leopoldstädter Tempel in Vienna, Austria. Costing 1,200 gold coins, it was opened to service on the eve of Pesach in April 1909. Capable of accommodating up to 1,200 worshipers, it was Europe's third-largest temple and the largest in Turkey.In 1983, the synagogue was abandoned after most of the Jewish community left the city, emigrating to Israel, Europe, or North America. In 1995, the temple by law came under the control of the governmental Turkish Foundations Institution.