A major project to renovate the Eliyahu Hanavi synagogue in the coastal city of Alexandria has been completed. The official inauguration is set to be on next Friday, January 10, according to sources in the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities.
Eliyahu Hanavi is one of two remaining synagogues in the Egyptian city. The house of worship is one of several Jewish sites in Alexandria, which was once home to an estimated 30,000-40,000 Jews.
Its current structure was erected in the 1850s, after the original building which dates back to the 1300s, was badly damaged in the late 18th century, during a French invasion of Egypt. It can hold approximately 700 worshipers.
The renovations cost approximately $4 million, paid by the Egyptian government.
Egypt’s Jewish community, which dates back millennia, numbered around 80,000 in the 1940s, but today stands at fewer than 20 people.
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi said in November 2018: “If we have Jews, we will build [synagogues] for them.”
Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue Alexandria located in Nabi Daniel street. It was built in 1354.
Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue Alexandria bombed by the French during their invasion of Egypt in 1798.
Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue is one of the largest synagogues in the Middle East. With towering Italian marble columns and brass nameplates of its male patrons, the synagogue seats over 700 people. There is also extra seating upstairs for women At the front of the synagogue building there is a closed chamber which holds 30 Torah scrolls.
Antiquities Minister Khaled Anani inspected in last December renovation works at the Synagogue and the Graeco-Roman Museum in Alexandria.
Anani also followed up the work progress at the Royal Jewelry Museum and the Alexandria National Museum, according to a statement by the Antiquities Ministry.
The minister also visited the Royal Jewelry Museum and the Alexandria National Museum to follow up on the pace of work and quality of services offered to visitors, the statement noted.
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