Plovdiv Synagogue

The Plovdiv Synagogue, officially the Zion Plovdiv Synagogue (Паметник за спасение на пловдивските евреи Шофар), is a Romaniote Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Built in 1892, the synagogue is one of the two active remaining synagogues in Bulgaria. The congregation worships in the Sephardi rite.

History
According to the archaeological research, a synagogue was constructed in ancient Philippopolis dating from the reign of Emperor Alexander Severus in the first half of 3rd century AD. It was followed by several renovations, the last one – from the beginning of 5th century (M. Martinova). In 1360, when the city was conquered by the Turks, certain Jews who emigrated from Aragon in 1492 settled in Philippopolis and built a synagogue called "K. K. Aragon," which was standing in 1540, but is no longer in existence.

In 1892 following the Bulgarian liberation from Ottoman domination in 1878, one of the first synagogues to be erected was the (Zion) Synagogue in Plovdiv. It was built in the remnants of a small courtyard in what was once a large Jewish quarter called Orta Mezar during the Turkish rule. The location of the Sephardic synagogue is now called Tsar Kaloyan Street 13. The synagogue is one of the best surviving examples of the Ottoman-style Balkan synagogue.

According to Ruth E. Gruber, the interior is a "hidden treasure…a glorious, if run-down, burst of color." An exquisite Venetian glass chandelier hangs from the center of the ceiling, which has a richly painted dome. All surfaces are covered in elaborate, Moorish-style, geometric designs in once-bright greens and blues. Torah scrolls are kept in the gilded Aron-ha-Kodesh.

In 1904 the Jewish community possessed three other synagogues: Jeshurun, built in 1710 according to the inscription on a marble slab in the synagogue; Ahabat-Shalom, built in 1880; Shebeṭ Aḥim or Mafṭirim, founded in 1882 by emigrants from Karlovo, whence the Jews fled during the Turko-Russian war (1877-1878). Before World War II, the Jewish quarter had a population of 7000.

Legacy
Nowadays, the Jewish community in Bulgaria is very small (863 in 1994) because of the Holocaust, secularity of the local Jewish population due to many years of communism and subsequent Aliya (Jewish immigration to Israel).

In 1994 the synagogue was mostly inactive. but the community is undergoing a revival In 2003 the synagogue was  restored. The city's mayor, the U.S. and Israeli ambassadors to Bulgaria, were present at its inauguration. The funding for the restoration of the 19th-century Zion Synagogue. was raised by the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad (US$26,000) and the London-based Hanadiv Charitable Foundation.

The Plovdiv synagogue is open on Friday night services and on High Holidays. Zion synagogue is also available for guests during the day only after a prescheduled visit. The synagogue hosts various events connected with the cultural and educational program of the city.

A permanent exhibition about the Jewish life in the city and the region will soon be created and it will present different objects and stories from the community in Plovdiv and Bulgaria.

Rabbis
The following individuals have served as chief rabbi of the congregation and the city: