What do you see in the Synagogue?
Actually, the structure of the Sinagoga Major de Barcelona did not remain in its original form. Visitors can admire an ancient Roman building with typical characteristics of roman public buildings (for example serial construction of stones alternating with bricks). This Roman construction served as base for later structures.
There are not too much archeological remains from the Jewish period. That is why we know just a few things about the synagogue. At the entrance of the building you can see the following inscription: “Hekdesh R’ Shmuel HaSardi”. In the past the street level was a little bit lower than today, so there will be a need to go down a stair to get to the synagogue.
The synagogue consists of two small rooms. In the first one you can admire some recently uncovered archaeological relics. The second one is actually the synagogue, there you can participate in a guided tour which presents the site and its history (the tour is available in English, Spanish and Hebrew, in weekends also in Catalan, French and Russian). There many glass cupboards full of Jewish objects such as the menorah and different holy books (for additional information – Jews in Barcelona).