Rodeph Shalom Synagogue

Philadelphia


Home to the oldest Jewish Ashkenazi congregation in the US, Rodeph Shalom is one of the most beautiful pieces of religious architecture in Philadelphia. The 1927 building, designed by Simon & Simon, features Babylonian and Assyrian patterns on its exterior, while the spectacular domed interior is a riot of stenciled mosaics, gilt and stained glass with Byzantine and Moorish allusions.

Historians bemoan the fact that a Frank Furness–designed synagogue was torn down in the 1920s to create this building. Photos of the Furness building hang in the synagogue's contemporary main entrance, added in 2015, which also includes an interesting Museum of Jewish Art.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Philadelphia attractions

1. Common Threads

0.09 MILES

This giant 2016 work by Meg Saligman features Tameka Jones, a student at the Philadelphia High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, at the center…

2. Rail Park

0.25 MILES

The old Reading Viaduct is the location of the first phase of this ambitious project to reuse 3 miles of decommissioned rail lines between Fairmount Park…

4. Vox Populi

0.44 MILES

Founded in 1988 this artist collective gallery is one of the city's leading contemporary art spaces. Their diverse programming includes monthly…

5. Colors of Light: Gateway to Chinatown

0.49 MILES

Bursting out the side of a building on the corner of Vine and 12th Sts, this 1999 Mural Arts project is inspired by the Asian American community. With its…

6. Edgar Allan Poe National Historic Site

0.6 MILES

Often called the creator of the horror story, Edgar Allan Poe lived for six years in Philadelphia, in five different houses. This historic site, his only…

7. Paint Torch

0.6 MILES

This 51ft fiberglass paintbrush with an accompanying giant blob of paint is a 2011 work by Claes Oldenburg. At night the orange paint-coated bristles of…

8. Grumman Greenhouse

0.6 MILES

Jordan Griska's dramatic conceptional work is formed from a Grumman Tracker II naval plane that appears to have crash-landed at a jaunty angle into the…