The monumental Tempio Maggiore, or Great Synagogue, in Rome is to undergo an innovative acoustic improvement project aimed at enriching the experience of collective prayer.
The initiative seeks to restore “the full intensity and clarity of collective prayer in a space that is both a place of worship, memory, and spirituality,” says Victor Fadlun, President of the Rome Jewish Community, in a video published on the Community’s social media pages to announce the project. (Watch the video below, in Italian.)
The intervention, he says, foresees the installation of advanced sound-absorbing panels, integrated into the synagogue’s existing architecture. According to the project draft, the panels will be installed within the internal dome of the synagogue. These will be complemented by a state-of-the-art audio system designed to deliver optimal sound quality, enhancing comprehension during prayer and public events. In accordance with religious law, the system will remain switched off during Shabbat and Jewish holidays.
In addition, the scaffolding necessary for the panel installation will provide an opportunity, under the oversight of the Rome Heritage Superintendency, to address areas of deterioration on the synagogue’s interior walls, specifically some mural decorations on the dome.
The project was first conceived by civil engineer and community member Scialom Meghnagi, while the technical and architectural execution of the plan has been entrusted to ESA Engineering, which worked in close collaboration with the Rome Heritage Superintendency.
ESA Engineering is a consultancy firm based in Florence with specific expertise in acoustics.
This “initiative combines tradition and preservation with a touch of modernity, all while respecting our historical heritage—embodied by this magnificent Temple where, once the work is completed, prayer will once again be heard and felt with great intensity, in harmony with the beauty of a space that represents the spirit of our Community,” Fadlun says.
Located in the old ghetto area where Papal edicts forced Jews to live from 1555 until 1870, the towering synagogue, with a soaring squared dome, was designed in a lavish eclectic style, with Byzantine motifs, by Vincenzo Costa and Osvaldo Armanni. It was inaugurated in 1904 following the demolition of the old ghetto as part of urban renewal. It’s a so-called “cathedral synagogue,” whose prominence and grandeur showed the new-found freedoms won by Jews after full emancipation.
As we noted, in 2023 the Great Synagogue underwent major external restoration, with work carried out by REMI, a firm specializing in the maintenance and restoration of cultural heritage.
In December 2024, for the 120th anniversary of its inauguration, Italy’s President Sergio Mattarella was the guest of honor at a major celebration held at the synagogue.
Earlier this year, extensive restoration work at the Jewish section of Rome’s historic monumental Verano Cemetery was completed, with more than €1 million allocated by the municipality.