Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The Spanish synagogue is one of the two functioning synagogues in Venice. It was built in 1580 and was restored in 1635. It is a clandestine synagogue meaning that the exterior was not allowed to appear as a place of worship. The synagogue is still open today for services.

The Scuola Grande Tedesca was built in 1528 by German Ashkenazi Jews making it one of the oldest synagogues in Venice. The temple is on the fourth and fifth floors of the five-story building that today is home to the Jewish Museum in Venice.

The Scuola Greca in Corfu is a Romaniot synagogue from the 17th century. This stone building still serves as a synagogue.

The Scuola Italiana in Venice was first built in 1575 and rebuilt in the 18th century. This Baroque stone building still serves as a synagogue.

The Scuola Levantina in Venice was built between 1538 and 1561, with some parts dating from 1680. This Mannerist stone building still serves as a synagogue.

To replace the church building on the Nieuwstraat. Leerdam, Nieuwstraat 83 - Sealthiël . The church looks like a historic village church, built of red brick. The church was designed by the architectural firm Born, has a classic main shape and is provided with a square church tower. The high church hall offers space for 750 churchgoers. On gray tiles are grayed, beechwood benches. Four enormous chandeliers, made by a member of the congregation, hang from the ceiling. Since 1942, the congregation met in a church building on the Nieuwstraat, in the center of the city. That building increasingly failed to meet the needs. There was a great shortage of hall spaces and catechism rooms and there were increasing parking problems in the city center. The building was old and no longer future-proof for us. The first discussions about the possibilities of a church at another location date from 2006. In 2011, it was concretely decided to proceed with new construction. Two years later, a large plot of land on Drossaardslaan could be purchased, on the site of a domestic science school. The first pile was driven in mid-2018.

Interesting modern church without a tower.

The exterior of the church, with its rounded construction and curves is mainly romance. The interior is late-Roman, with dome vaults and brick imitation. The 13th century church was built during the transitional period from Romanesque to Late Romanesque.

Straight-ended church building consisting of a 13th century nave with niche window zone and somewhat younger choir. The tower, also from the 13th century, was connected to the nave in 1639 by the extension of the church, walled up and crowned with an onion-shaped spire. Richly decorated furniture consisting of: pulpit from 1743 with lectern, rear bulkhead, sounding board and stairs. Baptismal fence with lectern, choir partition, lord's pew with bars, high pew. Since 2022, the church, which until then was known as the "Reformed Church", uses the name of the plague saint Sebastian, the original patron saint of the church.

While admiring the scenery of Transylvanian fortified churches, the traveler should not miss the small town of Sebeş. In its center the fortified church bears the imprints of the past with dignity. The monument was built in the 12th century by Saxon colonists, was destroyed during the Mongol invasion 1241-1242 and later on rebuilt in Gothic style, fortified and provided with a defence wall. In the second half of the 14th century, a period characterized by a flourishing economy, an impressive chancel was constructed. For almost 40 years, starting mid 15th century, Sebeş was under Ottoman domination. In the centuries that followed, agriculture lost its importance and the town became a center for craftsmen, who diligently brought a great contribution to the church’s enhancement. However, WWI ended Sebeş’s prosperity. The bells were confiscated, melted and turned into ammunition. They could only be replaced as late as 1925.