The dome that's square

The Great Synagogue of Rome was built between 1901 and 1904, right after the ghetto had been torn down, and everything about it answers back to the three centuries that came before.

The community chose a building that would be seen. It stands openly beside the river rather than tucked away in some alley, it rises high, and the dome is square, which sets it apart from every church dome in the city. From across the Tiber you recognise it straight away.

The decoration draws on Assyria and Egypt instead of the classical Roman vocabulary, a choice that reaches back to the east the community had come from.

Inside you'll find the Jewish Museum of Rome, and that's the reason to buy a ticket. The rooms hold textiles, silverwork and manuscripts from the centuries of the ghetto, including pieces from the five small synagogues that the residents had fitted into a single building within the walls, since more than one synagogue was forbidden. Tours also take you into the prayer hall, which stays closed if you're on your own.

By the entrance there's a plaque for the 1982 attack, when a two-year-old child was killed and dozens of people were wounded on the morning of a feast day.

We follow the square in front of the synagogue northwards, towards the open stretch where the street widens.