St. Anne's Church, Trani
Encyclopedia
St. Anne's Church located in Trani
, Apulia
in Italy, was built as the Scolagrande Synagogue during the medieval period; the structure houses now the Jewish
Section of the Diocesan Museum of Trani
.
,) San Leonardo Abate, San Pietro Martire. San Pietro was later demolished. San Leonardo has undergone such extensive renovation that little of the synagogue building survives.
Originally known as the Scolagrande Synagogue, the building was renamed Santi Quirico e Giovita after it was confiscated for use as a church, and later renamed Sant'Anna.
A medieval plaque on the northern wall describes an early renovation of the synagogue: "In the year 5007 after the creation, this sanctuary was built by a group of friends of the congregation, with a high decorated dome, a window providing light and new doors for the closure; the floor relaid and seats installed for the choir. May their piety be remembered before Him Who dwells in the splendid heavens." The date translates to 1247 CE.
. This would have been an early version of the plan later widely adopted by Sephardic synagogues in which the bimah is on the western wall and the Ark on the eastern wall separated by the length of the room.
The church was restored in 1841, in 1880 and in 1978. It features paintings of scenes from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament.)
Trani
Trani is a seaport of Apulia, southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, in the new Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani , and 40 km by railway West-Northwest of Bari.- History :...
, Apulia
Apulia
Apulia is a region in Southern Italy bordering the Adriatic Sea in the east, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, and the Strait of Òtranto and Gulf of Taranto in the south. Its most southern portion, known as Salento peninsula, forms a high heel on the "boot" of Italy. The region comprises , and...
in Italy, was built as the Scolagrande Synagogue during the medieval period; the structure houses now the Jewish
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
Section of the Diocesan Museum of Trani
Trani
Trani is a seaport of Apulia, southern Italy, on the Adriatic Sea, in the new Province of Barletta-Andria-Trani , and 40 km by railway West-Northwest of Bari.- History :...
.
History
The church building was one of four synagogues in Trani converted to churches in 1380, when the 310 Jews remaining in the city were forcibly converted to Christianity. The four confiscated synagogues were renamed Santa Maria in Scolanova (now the Scolanova SynagogueScolanova Synagogue
The Scolanova Synagogue is a synagogue in Trani, Italy. It was built as a medieval synagogue, confiscated by the church during a wave of antisemitism around the year 1380, and converted for use as a church known as Santa Maria in Scolanova...
,) San Leonardo Abate, San Pietro Martire. San Pietro was later demolished. San Leonardo has undergone such extensive renovation that little of the synagogue building survives.
Originally known as the Scolagrande Synagogue, the building was renamed Santi Quirico e Giovita after it was confiscated for use as a church, and later renamed Sant'Anna.
A medieval plaque on the northern wall describes an early renovation of the synagogue: "In the year 5007 after the creation, this sanctuary was built by a group of friends of the congregation, with a high decorated dome, a window providing light and new doors for the closure; the floor relaid and seats installed for the choir. May their piety be remembered before Him Who dwells in the splendid heavens." The date translates to 1247 CE.
Architecture
The Scolagrande synagogue was an almost square, Byzantine-style domed, masonry building, 38 by 40 feet, formed by four huge arched walls supporting a 26-foot high dome. The arch of the western wall opens into a semi-circular niche supporting an arched dome thought to have once contained the bimahBimah
A bimah A bimah A bimah (among Ashkenazim, derived from Hebrew בּמה , almemar (from Arabic al-minbar) or tebah (among Sephardim) is the elevated area or platform in a Jewish synagogue which is intended to serve the place where the person reading aloud from the Torah stands during the Torah reading...
. This would have been an early version of the plan later widely adopted by Sephardic synagogues in which the bimah is on the western wall and the Ark on the eastern wall separated by the length of the room.
The church was restored in 1841, in 1880 and in 1978. It features paintings of scenes from the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament.)