Synagogue

The old synagogue (knis in Arabic) lies in the heart of the Jewish quarter in the old city. Like the other Jewish sites in Saida, it is ageless. It may have been there since antiquity or it may have been built more recently after a devastating earthquake in 1759 that destroyed parts of the old city. Recent excavations in Saida have unearthed some significant Jewish artifacts that go back to the fifteenth-century (a Torah scroll, several menorah etc.), but in a different part of the old city. In the light of these recent discoveries, we hope to bring in expert archeologists during the renovation process to learn more about the long history of the synagogue and the Jewish quarter.

After the last Jewish families left Saida in the 1980s, the synagogue has fallen into decrepitude and is currently occupied by a family of Syrian refugees. The rehabilitation of this sacred place full of memories would hopefully be our next effort after the rehabilitation of the cemetery.