Manchester Jewish Museum
| Manchester Jewish Museum | |
|---|---|
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 Location within Manchester
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| Basic information | |
| Location | Manchester, England |
| Geographic coordinates | 53°29′45″N 2°14′18″W / 53.495833°N 2.238333°WCoordinates: 53°29′45″N 2°14′18″W / 53.495833°N 2.238333°W |
| Affiliation | Orthodox Judaism |
| Rite | Sephardi |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Status | Museum |
| Website | www |
| Architectural description | |
| Architectural type | Synagogue |
| Completed | 1874 |
Manchester Jewish Museum occupies the former Spanish and Portuguese Synagogue on Cheetham Hill Road in Manchester, England. It is a grade II* listed building.
The synagogue was completed in 1874 but the building became redundant through the migration of the Jewish population away from the Cheetham area further north to Prestwich and Whitefield. It re-opened as a museum in March 1984 telling the story of the history of Jewish settlement in Manchester and its community over the last 200 years.
The synagogue was built in the Moorish Revival style by the noted Manchester architect Edward Salomons in 1874. Although it is far from being the largest or most magnificent of the world's many Moorish revival synagogues, which include the opulent Princes Road Synagogue in Liverpool, it is considered by architectural historian H.A. Meeks to be a "jewel". The style, a homage to the architecture of Moorish Spain, perhaps seemed particularly fitting for the home of a Sephardic congregation. The two tiers of horseshoe windows on the facade are emblematic of the style, and the recessed doorway and arcade of five windows on the floor above the entrance are particularly decorative. Inside, a horseshoe arch frames the heichal and polychrome columns support the galleries. The mashrabiyya latticework on the front doors is particularly fine.
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