Levantine Synagogue

The Levantine Synagogue (Scola Levantina, or Sinagoga Scuola Levantina), is a 16th-century Sephardic synagogue located in Venice, Italy.

History
The synagogue was founded in 1541, and underwent total reconstruction about a century later. It is believed that architect Baldassare Longhena worked on the exterior of the building, and Andrea Brustolon on the interior, specifically the pulpit. The Levantine Synagogue is so named due to its founders being Eastern Sephardim from the Ottoman Empire as well as the Venetian colony of Corfu in what is now Greece. The ancestors of these Levantine Jews were originally from Portugal and Spain.

Description
The design of the synagogue is reminiscient of the Venetian Ghetto in the Cannaregio sestieri. The presence of the building is inconspicuous, as it is not well-accentuated on the outside. Only the windows, which are larger than a typical building's, stand out as different than the average dwelling, although the inside is far more intricate than the outside.

The synagogue is located in the Campiellio de le Scuole area of the Ghetto. Many external details are typical of Longhena's work, with a prominence of entablatures and volutes in the keystone, mirrored walls, the ashlar plinth, ovulate windows in the attic, and the doors' intricately carved decorations. In contrast to the exterior, the interior is rich and refined. The floor contains the scola luzzatto, normally used as a study. Up the steps on the bimah, adorned with Solomonic columns with floral decorations, is the rabbi's lectern. The pulpit floor leads to three windows. Opposite to the bimah is the Aron haQodesh, engraved with the Ten Commandments, with the Hebrew date 5542, corresponding to the year 1782. A mechitza is visible and separates the higher women's gallery from the men's. On both sides, a boiserie covers the walls, depicting biblical narratives.