Santa María la Blanca
Encyclopedia
Santa María la Blanca is a museum and former synagogue in Toledo, Spain
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...

. Erected in 1180, it is disputably considered the oldest synagogue
Oldest synagogues in the world
The designation oldest synagogue in the world requires careful definition. Many very old synagogues have been discovered in archaeological digs. Some synagogues have been destroyed and rebuilt several times on the same site, so, while the site or congregation may be ancient, the building may be...

 building in Europe still standing. It is now owned and preserved by the Catholic Church.

Its stylistic and cultural classification is unique as it was constructed under the Christian Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile
Kingdom of Castile was one of the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. It emerged as a political autonomous entity in the 9th century. It was called County of Castile and was held in vassalage from the Kingdom of León. Its name comes from the host of castles constructed in the region...

 by Islamic architects for Jewish use. It is considered a symbol of the cooperation that existed among the three cultures that populated the Iberian Peninsula
Iberian Peninsula
The Iberian Peninsula , sometimes called Iberia, is located in the extreme southwest of Europe and includes the modern-day sovereign states of Spain, Portugal and Andorra, as well as the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar...

 during the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

.

Style

The synagogue is a Mudéjar
Mudéjar
Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...

 construction, created by Moorish architects on Christian soil for non-Islamic purposes. But it can also be considered one of the finest example of Almohad
Almohad
The Almohad Dynasty , was a Moroccan Berber-Muslim dynasty founded in the 12th century that established a Berber state in Tinmel in the Atlas Mountains in roughly 1120.The movement was started by Ibn Tumart in the Masmuda tribe, followed by Abd al-Mu'min al-Gumi between 1130 and his...

 architecture because of its construction elements and style. The plain white interior walls as well as the use of brick
Brick
A brick is a block of ceramic material used in masonry construction, usually laid using various kinds of mortar. It has been regarded as one of the longest lasting and strongest building materials used throughout history.-History:...

 and of pillars instead of columns are characteristics of Almohad architecture. The typology also presents nuances in its classification, because although it was constructed as a synagogue, its hypostyle
Hypostyle
In architecture, a hypostyle hall has a roof which is supported by columns, as in the Great Hypostyle Hall at Karnak. The word hypostyle comes from the Ancient Greek hypóstȳlos meaning "under columns"...

 room, and the lack of a women's gallery, make it closer in character to a mosque
Mosque
A mosque is a place of worship for followers of Islam. The word is likely to have entered the English language through French , from Portuguese , from Spanish , and from Berber , ultimately originating in — . The Arabic word masjid literally means a place of prostration...

. Though it does not have a women's gallery today, it did at one time have a women's gallery according to an early 20th century architect.

It became a church in 1405 or 1411, but no major reforms were done for the change. It took then the name of Santa María la Blanca (Saint Mary, the White), and today it is known by this name.

Location

The synagogue at Santa Maria la Blanca is located on the outskirts of Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...

 situated between the Church of San Juan de los Reyes and the Synagogue of El Transito
Synagogue of El Transito
The Synagogue of El Transito is a historical building in Toledo, Spain, founded by Samuel ha-Levi in 1336.Samuel ha-Levi was a diplomat and treasurer at the court of Peter of Castile.- History of changes :...

. Other well-preserved, pre-expulsion synagogues can be found in Híjar
Híjar Synagogue
The Híjar Synagogue is a surviving, pre-expulsion synagogue building in the city of Híjar, Aragon.Since the expulsion of the Jews from Spain it has been in use as the Church of San Antón in Híjar. The Jewish community in Híjar is known to have numbered 32 families as late 1481, after a series of...

, Córdoba
Córdoba Synagogue
Córdoba Synagogue is a historic edifice in the Jewish Quarter of Córdoba, Spain built in 1315.The synagogue was built in Mudéjar style by architects led by Isaac Moheb. It consists of a courtyard, accessed from the street, which leads to a hallway, followed by the prayer room. On the eastern side...

 and Tomar
Synagogue of Tomar
The Synagogue of Tomar is the best preserved of the medieval synagogues of Portugal. It is located in the historic centre of the city of Tomar, and houses a small Jewish Museum....

.

Design

Santa Maria la Blanca was a wholly unusual synagogue, in both plan and elevation. The floor plan of the synagogue is an irregular quadrilateral divided into five aisles, with the central nave aisle slightly larger than the remaining four. The space runs between 26 and 28 meters long and between 19 and 23 meters wide. The interior features a series of arcades
Arcade (architecture)
An arcade is a succession of arches, each counterthrusting the next, supported by columns or piers or a covered walk enclosed by a line of such arches on one or both sides. In warmer or wet climates, exterior arcades provide shelter for pedestrians....

 supported on a network of twenty-four octagonal piers
Pier (architecture)
In architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...

 and eight engaged piers. These octagonal supports line the central aisle of the synagogue and support the large arcade of horseshoe arch
Horseshoe arch
The horseshoe arch, also called the Moorish arch and the Keyhole arch, is the emblematic arch of Islamic architecture. They were formerly constructed in Visigothic Spain. Horseshoe arches can take rounded, pointed or lobed form....

es above. The arches rest on intricately detailed capitals with finely carved pinecones and other vegetal imagery. These capitals are Mudéjar
Mudéjar
Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...

 in style and are derived from classical, Corinthian
Corinthian order
The Corinthian order is one of the three principal classical orders of ancient Greek and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric and Ionic. When classical architecture was revived during the Renaissance, two more orders were added to the canon, the Tuscan order and the Composite order...

 antecedents as well as Byzantine
Byzantine
Byzantine usually refers to the Roman Empire during the Middle Ages.Byzantine may also refer to:* A citizen of the Byzantine Empire, or native Greek during the Middle Ages...

 concepts.

Stylistic origins

The exact origins and original specifications of the synagogue prove difficult to place. Evidence points toward a construction date sometime in the late twelfth century or early thirteenth century. One commonly accepted opinion is that the temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...

 was erected sometime around 1205, as documents from the time mention a "new", great synagogue located in Toledo. Another theory arises from a wooden tablet found in the area that describes a new structure saying, "Its ruins were raised up in the year 4940" [CE 1180]. This date is not irrational as the structure's style is closer to that of Moroccan monuments of the twelfth century such as Tinmal (1153) and Kuturbiyya (1150). If this inscription indeed refers to Santa Maria la Blanca, then the synagogue may in fact be a refabrication of an existing building or a new building located on the same plot as a demolished one. Whether the synagogue's layout might have been lifted from a preexisting mosque located on the same site is still unclear and purely hypothetical.

Patron

It is also somewhat unclear who might be the patron of the original synagogue, although evidence does prefer to identify Joseph ben Meir ben Shoshan, or Yusef Abenxuxen, as the original patron. Joseph was the son of a finance minister
Finance minister
The finance minister is a cabinet position in a government.A minister of finance has many different jobs in a government. He or she helps form the government budget, stimulate the economy, and control finances...

 to King Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII of Castile
Alfonso VIII , called the Noble or el de las Navas, was the King of Castile from 1158 to his death and King of Toledo. He is most remembered for his part in the Reconquista and the downfall of the Almohad Caliphate...

 who, upon his death in 1205, recorded having built a synagogue. Some theories suggest Joseph rebuilt the temple after an uprising against Jews in Toledo. This reasoning may be the cause for the building's irregular floor plan and again points to a late-twelfth century construction. Other historians, such as L. Torres Balbas, note similarities between the plaster work in the aisles of Santa Maria la Blanca and the convent Las Huelgas of Burgos of a later date around 1275. However, the scale and proportion of the ornament, the nature of the ornamentation, the blank canvas against which the ornament is placed, as well as the way in which light is used in the space all correspond to structures contemporary with the earlier construction date.

See also

  • Synagogue architecture
    Synagogue architecture
    Synagogue architecture often follows styles in vogue at the place and time of construction. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. According to tradition, the Divine Presence can be found wherever there is a minyan,...

  • Mudéjar
    Mudéjar
    Mudéjar is the name given to individual Moors or Muslims of Al-Andalus who remained in Iberia after the Christian Reconquista but were not converted to Christianity...

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