The Former Synagogue, Monte San Savino
An ancient complex that tells the story of the Jewish community in the Tuscan village
Monte San Savino, a very old village in Valdichiana Aretina, hosted a large Jewish community in the past centuries, formally established in 1627 after early temporary settlements dating back to the 1400s.
A valuable witness to this era - at numbers 13 and 14 of Via Salomon Fiorentino - is the building of the Ancient Synagogue, the oldest parts of which date back to 1729.
After the removal in 1799 of the Jewish community, the synagogue building became property of the Israelite University of Siena and was finally acquired in 1924 by the Municipality of Monte San Savino.
The complex, consisting of two bodies of buildings, housed the actual synagogue, located on the top floor, the school and, probably, the residence of the rabbi or the Jewish community massari.
The first body of the building is less tall than the second - probably after the collapse it suffered from the tremendous hurricane that hit the Mount in August 1872 - and has a single-pitched roof, an ashlar and architraved portal and two rectangular windows; inside are wall arches built in the 20th century to provide stability to the old walls.
The second body has a lowered arched portal and framed windows: inside it is possible to see a painted window and a framed niche formerly intended to contain the aron ha-kodesh (cabinet containing the scrolls of the laws) and, below, the remains of earthenware pipes perhaps used for the miqveh (ritual bath).
