The third largest city in modern Turkey, Izmir witnessed a large and affluent Jewish presence in the early Christian era. During the middle ages, the numbers decreased significantly, but new settlers persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition followed in 1492. The newly arrived Sephardic Jews merged with the small community of Romaniots (Byzantine Jews) and were followed by new settlements in the 17th century from Istanbul and Thessaloniki. The photo shows the Bet Israel Synagogue, a turn of the century structure that is the largest of its kind in Izmir, serving the current Jewish population of 2,000. In the second half of the 19th century, Alliance Israelite Universelle founded 71 boys' and 44 girls' schools on Ottoman soil. The institute discontinued its Turkish operations in 1932 and the pictured school building has since been used as an old age home. The building is currently being restored with help from the Distribution Joint Committee. Built in 1460 by Jews who migrated from the town of Ohri in Macedonia, the Ahrida Synagogue displays the universality in Jewish art. The woodwork and ornaments were added during the 17th century. The Kuzguncuk Synagogue, which dates from 1842, closely resembles the Ahrida Synagogue in architecture. The "bema" (the platform from which the services are conducted) in the center is designed to look like Noah's Ark. Erected in 1930 by the Kadduri family, the Balat Hospital is the only Jewish medical facility in Istanbul. A large part of the hospital is currently used as a nursing home. The hospital is linked to its own synagogue and soup kitchen where kosher meals are served. Laid out on a remote hillside after the second world war, the Jewish cemetary in Ulus is home to a monument erected in memory of the 20 people that died in the terrorist attack on the Neve Shalom Synagogue on September 6, 1986. home | who we are | istanbul | anatolia | e-mail