History of Greek Jewish Community 

The Athens Museum of Greek Jewry

A visit to the Jewish Museum is a must for any  visitor to Athens .It only pays to see the reconstructed interior of the historical ALKABETZ synagogue. This synagogue was originally built in 1905 in Patras and is a perfect example of the classical type of Sephardic synagogues that developed in Venetian times and were to be found in Italy and in Venetian ruled cities such as in Crete, Corfu and Zakynthos. Other exhibits depict in a logical way the Greek Jewish history and traditions: they start with a series of displays in which Greek Jewish history is presented through artifacts, maps, photographs, and texts. The specific periods covered are: Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern. It goes on by covering Jewish religious life in Greece. Individual displays depict the various Jewish celebrations, holidays and family traditions of Greek Jewry as well as customs, costumes and rituals objects.

A most important section of the Jewish Museum of Greece is devoted to the Holocaust and the memory of the some 70.000 cremated Greek Jews. Documents, photographs, memoirs and artifacts setting out the story of the almost total annihilation of the Jews of Greece. Other display areas contain fine ancient handwritten KETUBOT (Jewish marriage contracts), photographs of Jewish soldiers in the Greek army (12.898 Greek Jews fought with the Greek army in 1940 - 41), books on Greek Jewry an last but not least a complete history of the Zionist movement in Greece.

The Museum is Open daily from 9am to 3 .  Except Sundays. Admission is free. 
36 Amalias Ave  ( Close to Syntagma square )

Tel 323-1577


The restored Synagogue of Patras in the museum

Colophon from a manuscript copy of the Kelimat ha-Goyim of Maestro Prophiat ha-Ephodi


Rabbi E. Cohen , Athens, 1894

Benveniste family, Salonika, 1904

Rojo Quarter of Salonika, 17th Century


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