The Kemeraltı synagogues form the old city cluster of Jewish Izmir. Several stand close to one another around Havra Street, alongside traces of study, welfare, trade and everyday neighbourhood life.
This is the part of the site where visitors most often need orientation. The buildings are historically important, but they are not all ordinary walk-in attractions. Some are restored, some are used for cultural activity, and some need careful wording about condition, access and current status.
- Area: Kemeraltı, the first Juderia
- Synagogues: nine historic synagogues
- Setting: around Havra Street, within the bazaar
- Nearby: the Rabbinate, the kortijos and Havra Street market
Synagogues in this cluster
- Algazi Synagogue
- Bet Hillel Synagogue
- Bikur Holim Synagogue
- Etz Hayim Synagogue
- Forasteros Synagogue
- Hevra Synagogue
- Portugal Synagogue
- Shalom Synagogue
- Sinyora Synagogue
What connects them
Many of the Kemeraltı synagogues share local architectural features: a relationship between the prayer hall and a Midrash, a triple Ehal composition, and central-plan arrangements shaped by columns and the placement of the Tevah.
They also show how religious life and communal infrastructure were held together in the old quarter. A synagogue could be a place of prayer, learning, social authority, welfare memory and family continuity at the same time.
Around the synagogues
The cluster did not stand alone. Havra Street, named for its synagogues, was the community’s kosher food market. The nearby Rabbinate on Hahambaşı Street held the central library and yeshiva, and the Sephardi courtyard houses known as kortijos gave the quarter its daily life. Read these together on Jewish Quarters.
Visiting
Please read Visit before planning to enter any synagogue. Permission and guidance may be required.
