Bevis Marks Synagogue
— — the oldest room the city kept lit for the same prayer.
Not only on a wall.
“Bevis Marks holds a quiet courtyard a few minutes' walk from Aldgate. Inside, seven brass chandeliers from Amsterdam carry candles for the seven days of the week, and the same Sephardi liturgy has been read here without a Sabbath missed since 1701. A Quaker carpenter named Joseph Avis built it for the small Spanish and Portuguese community newly returned to London. The benches still carry the polish of three centuries of hands.
Bevis Marks Synagogue, on ceramic.
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The place, in three passes.
Bevis Marks Synagogue sits in a small courtyard off Bevis Marks street in the City of London, about five minutes on foot from Aldgate and Liverpool Street stations. It is the oldest synagogue in continuous use in the United Kingdom, opened in September 1701 by the Spanish and Portuguese Jews' Congregation that had reformed in London after Oliver Cromwell's tacit readmission of Jews to England in 1656. The building is a Grade I listed structure and serves as the *Sahar Asamaim* — Gate of Heaven — community to this day, with the original liturgy of the Western Sephardi rite still in use.
The synagogue was designed by Joseph Avis, a Quaker carpenter, who is said to have returned his profit to the congregation when the building came in under budget. The plan is a rectangular hall in brick with tall round-headed windows, twelve Tuscan columns for the twelve tribes, and a women's gallery on three sides. Seven brass chandeliers — the central one a gift from the Great Synagogue of Amsterdam in 1701 — carry candles for the seven days of the week. The benches are the original oak, polished by 320 years of weekly use.
The synagogue is open to visitors most weekdays and Sunday mornings, with last entry around 14:00 and a small admission fee for non-members. It closes for Jewish holidays and for Saturday services. The closest Underground stops are Aldgate (Circle/Metropolitan) and Liverpool Street (Central/Elizabeth). Visitors are asked to dress modestly; men are given a kippah at the door. Photography is permitted inside outside service hours. Friday evening and Saturday morning services follow the Western Sephardi rite and are open to respectful guests who arrive at the start of the service.