The Israelite Temple of Florence

As the site of regularly performed religious rituals, religious buildings are permanent, institutionalised sites for producing the Holy. ¹ But the religious building also produces and reproduces – mainly through its architectural style and its location – the relationship between the religious organisation and the wider community where the building stands. Here, the religious is produced along with its relationship to the secular. ² The religious buildings of minority faiths, in particular, create and reflect their version of the Holy along with the struggle to define the status of the minority religion vis-à-vis not only the majority religion but also the secular polity where majority and minority live together. This essay examines the case of the nineteenth-century so-called “Moorish-style” synagogue, through the particular example of the Israelite Temple (tempio israelitico) of Florence.