Santa María la Blanca (lit. Saint Mary the White), originally known as the Ibn Shushan Synagogue, currently serves as museum in the city of Toledo, Spain. Erected in 1180, it is the oldest synagogue building in Europe that is still standing, now owned by the Catholic Church.
Its stylistic and cultural classification is unique as it was constructed under the Christian Kingdom of Castile, by Islamic architects for Jewish use. It is considered a sym...
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Santa María la Blanca (lit. Saint Mary the White), originally known as the Ibn Shushan Synagogue, currently serves as museum in the city of Toledo, Spain. Erected in 1180, it is the oldest synagogue building in Europe that is still standing, now owned by the Catholic Church.
Its stylistic and cultural classification is unique as it was constructed under the Christian Kingdom of Castile, by Islamic architects for Jewish use. It is considered a symbol of the cooperation which existed between the three cultures which populated the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages.
The synagogue is a Mudéjar construction, created by Moorish architects in Christian soil, for non-Islamic purposes. But it can also be considered one of the finest example of Almohad architecture, because of the construction elements and style. The white, plain interior walls, the use of brick and of pillars instead of columns and the vegetal decoration of the capitals are characteristical of the Almohad architecture....
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