Editing Synagogue architecture (section)

=== Moorish influence ===
[[File:Santa_María_La_Blanca_^_sinagoga_en_TOLEDO_-_panoramio_edited.jpg|thumb|Interior of [[Santa María la Blanca]]]]
[[File:Plzen_114.JPG|thumb|[[Great Synagogue (Plzeň)|Great Synagogue of Plzeň]] in [[Plzeň]], [[Czech Republic]]]]

In medieval [[Spain]] (both [[Al-Andalus]] and the Christian kingdoms), a host of synagogues were built, and it was usual to commission them from [[Moorish architecture|Moorish]] and later [[Mudéjar architecture|Mudéjar]] architects. Very few of these medieval synagogues, built with Moorish techniques and style, are conserved. The two best known Spanish synagogues are in [[Toledo, Spain|Toledo]], one known as [[Synagogue of El Tránsito|El Tránsito]], the other as [[Santa María la Blanca]], and are now preserved as national monuments. The former is a small building containing very rich decorations; the latter is especially noteworthy. It is based upon Almohad style and contains long rows of octagonal columns with curiously carved capitals, from which spring Moorish arches supporting the roof.

Another significant Mudéjar synagogue is the one at [[Córdoba, Spain|Córdoba]] built in 1315. As in El Tránsito, the vegetal and geometrical stucco decorations are purely Moorish, but unlike the former, the [[epigraphic]] texts are in Hebrew.

After the expulsion from Spain there was a general feeling among wealthy [[Sephardic|Sephardim]] that Moorish architecture was appropriate in synagogues. By the mid-19th century, the style was adopted by the [[Ashkenazim]] of [[Central Europe|Central]] and [[Eastern Europe|Eastern]] Europe, who associated Moorish and [[Mudéjar]] architectural forms with the [[Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain|golden age of Jewry in Al-Andalus]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} As a consequence, [[Moorish Revival]] spread around the globe as a preferred style of synagogue architecture, although Moorish architecture is by no means Jewish, either in fact or in feeling. The [[Alhambra]] has furnished inspiration for innumerable synagogues, but seldom have its graceful proportions or its delicate modeling and elaborate ornamentation been successfully copied.

Moorish style, when adapted by the Ashkenazi was believed to have been a reference to the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry,<ref>Kalmar, I. D. (2001). "Moorish style: Orientalism, the Jews, and synagogue architecture". ''Jewish Social Studies'', 7(3), 68–100. 69.</ref> it was not the primary intention of the Jews and architects who chose to build in the Moorish style.<ref name="Davidson p70">Davidson, ''Moorish Style''. p. 70</ref> Rather, the choice to use the Moorish style was reflective of pride in their Semitic or oriental heritage.<ref name="Davidson p70"/> This pride in their heritage and understanding of Jews as "semitic" or "oriental" led architects like [[Gottfried Semper]] ([[Semper Synagogue]] Dresden, Germany) and [[Ludwig Förster]] (Tempelgasse or [[Leopoldstädter Tempel]], Vienna, Austria and [[Dohány Street Synagogue]], Budapest, Hungary) to build their synagogues in the Moorish style.<ref>Davidson, ''Moorish Style''. p. 84</ref> Moorish Style remained a popular choice for synagogues throughout the rest of the 19th and early 20th century.