Istanbul Jewish Heritage Tour

Turkey hosts the Jewish population since the 15th century B.C. During the reign of Bayezid II. Jewish people migrated from Spain, Portugal, and Italy, settled down in Istanbul. Following the 1490s, 150.000 Sephardic Jews even moved too. Ashkenaz population had started to rise by the migration from Roman Empire states following the war Roman Empire with Jewish people who got exiled to Constantinopolis. Later, German and Austrian settled in Istanbul but nowadays, only consist %4 of the Jewish Committee.

Istanbul is the city where trump of religions, you can see Mosques, Churches, and Synagogues. Our tour guides are well-experienced and licensed who will really take care during your tour, and you will be all illuminated about the Jewish lifestyle, highlights, and history.

Nowadays, the Jewish committee has only around 27-28.000 members that mostly lived in Istanbul. We have created a perfect itinerary for you to explore the best Jewish sites of Istanbul.

The Tour highlights are specially selected by Istanbul tour guides to witness Jewish people’s lives in Istanbul.

Neve Shalom Synagogue; Belongs to Turkish jews, turned from school to Synagogue, converted in 1951. Bar Mitzvah, Brit Milah and Shabbat held in.

Ashkenazi Synagogue; Built-in 1900. It has 21 Tora’s, with 7 floors inside, shaped as Spaceship and vault reminisce of space.

Etz-Hayim Synagogue; Named from the Synagogue of Bursa, the First settlement is not exactly known; however, we saved the fire’s description, proving that it was re-built by Avraam Komando. It has 3 Midrash at the garden,

Istanbul Jewish Museum; First settled inside Kal Kadosh Synagogue in Karakoy area, converted into a museum in 1992 under Quincentenniel foundation’s lead. Served till 2015 later moved inside the Neve Shalom Synagogue.

Ahrida Synagogue is located in the Balat neighborhood of Istanbul, and it is the biggest one among Balat’s synagogues. The Ahrida Synagogue was burnt during the Great Istanbul Fire in 1690 and was renovated in 1694. According to the inscription on the wall, the architect Hüsrev Tayla renovated the synagogue with the commission of 500.