VISIT TO THE SYNAGOGUE BOVA MARINA

This synagogue, place where religious and civilcerimonies took place, acquired a peculiar signifianceafter the Jewish people’s diaspora which followed theconquest of Jerusalem from the Romans.

Very important the so called “played room” with squareplan preceded by a court, tracing back to the first halfof the 4th century and restored during the 6th. Theexcavations carried out by the “Soprintendenza per iBeni Archeologici della Calabria” during the 80s, haverevealed a complex building with many rooms whichwas probably used for school activities, as canteen orlodging for pilgrims.

The existence of a Jewish communities in Bova and inother Calabrian places is testified by the results of theexcavations carried out and the statement given bythe historians. Starting from the 4th century a.D.throughout the 6th and 7th and during the 11th and13th as well the Jewish communities had differentcommercial activities. They sold corn, eggs, paper andsulphur. The area of San Pasquale was placed in a Keypoint crucial for both commercial and harbouractivites. Inside the present archaeological park twosettlements ,that can be traced back to an age betweenthe 4th and 6th a.D., have been discovered.

The end of settlement seems to have been brutal andunexpected. The jewish presence in the Calabrian landis likely to find a reason in the literary tradition.Giacobbe, when blessing his son Esaù, told him thathe would have inherited the Greek a fertile land calledItalyah shel Yavan, “Italy of Greece”

These are some pictures of some objects found in areas close to the synagogue

The objects is: the port wicks that were placed near to the place of prayer precisely the Torah, and a treasure that was in the jug achromatic, and that this jug contained coins dating from between the 4th and the 5th century a.C.

As we have said previously, around the area of the synagogue, ancient objects connected to the lives of Jews in Calabria were found , especially the mosaic floor which represents the most important Jewish symbols : the merorah, Solomon’s knot…. This mosaic was discovered thanks to the excavations done by the Soprintendenza Archeologica della Calabria.

Instead these are the pictures of the excavationsmade in Bova Marina, they are ongoing, theseexcavations were carried out just below the highway106 Jonica, and found objects relating to the Jews inCalabria.

by Angelo Campanella IV AE