The Ahrida Synagogue

Istanbul · Turkiet · Historic building

The reading platform is shaped like a ship's prow — Noah's ark, some say. From here Sabbatai Zevi is said to have claimed the crown.

Ahrida in Balat was built in the 15th century by Jews from Ohrid in Macedonia and is one of Istanbul's oldest synagogues. What makes the room famous is its teva, the reading platform, shaped like the prow of a ship. By one reading it is Noah's ark; by another it is the Ottoman galleys that fetched the expelled Sephardim from Spain and carried them here. In 1666 Sabbatai Zevi, the man from Izmir who declared himself the Messiah, is said to have stood in this very room on a Sabbath and preached to a congregation convinced the end of days was at hand. The movement born of his claim shook the Jewish world, and in Ahrida the prow still stands, pointed toward a voyage that never happened. The room is still in use, and the prow points the same way it has for six centuries.

FAQ

Where is The Ahrida Synagogue located?

The Ahrida Synagogue is in Istanbul, Turkiet.

More haunted places in Istanbul