Monastir Synagogue

Last functioning synagogue of Thessaloniki's once vast Jewish community

The Monastir Synagogue, tucked into a courtyard off Syngrou Street near the Modiano market, is the only surviving active synagogue in a city that once had 40. Built in 1927 by Jews who had emigrated from Monastir (now Bitola in North Macedonia), it survived the Nazi occupation when most of Thessaloniki's Jewish community did not.

Inside, the synagogue follows the Sephardic layout with the bimah (reading platform) in the centre and the ark at the far end. Visiting is possible but not always straightforward — check with the Jewish community of Thessaloniki for current access arrangements. The Jewish Museum nearby on Agiou Mina Street is an excellent complement, with detailed documentation of the city's Sephardic history and culture.

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A story
Before the Holocaust, Thessaloniki had the largest Sephardic Jewish population in the world — around 50,000 people, roughly half the city. The community spoke Ladino, a medieval form of Spanish, and had been there since the expulsion from Spain in 1492. In 1943 the German occupation deported virtually all of them to Auschwitz, where 96 percent were killed. The Monastir Synagogue is one of the very few physical remnants of a community that shaped this city for 450 years.

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