Havra Street (Synagogue Street)

Havra Street — Havra Sokak, or Synagogue Street — runs through the Kemeraltı bazaar district and is lined with some of the most important Jewish heritage in Turkey. The street takes its name from the synagogues clustered along and around it; the oldest surviving one, the Algazi Synagogue, dates to 1724. Others include the Shalom, the Portugal, and the Signora Giveret synagogues.

Walking Havra Street today, you pass between working prayer houses, wine shops selling local grape varieties, and old arcade buildings that have housed trading businesses for centuries. Access to the synagogues is generally restricted to Jewish visitors or those on organised heritage tours, but the street itself is open and the architecture rewards attention.

things to do sight kemeralti
A story
At its height in the eighteenth century, İzmir had a Jewish population of around 30,000 — one of the largest in the Ottoman Empire and a legacy of the great expulsion from Spain in 1492. The Jewish community dominated the city's trade in silk, wool, and dried fruits, and their influence was felt in commerce, banking, and intellectual life. The community has dwindled dramatically over the twentieth century, but nine synagogues survive on and around Havra Street, most still in use for the remaining community.