Egypt, on Friday reopened a major synagogue after massive renovations in a sign of religious tolerance in the mostly Muslim country.

The online edition of the state-owned newspaper al-Ahram reported that the Egyptian Minister of Antiquities and Tourism, Khaled al-Anany, reopened the Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue in the coastal city of Alexandria.

The synagogue is the largest of the two synagogues in Alexandria.

The restoration took about three years and cost 100 million Egyptian pounds (or 6.2 million dollars).

According to the antiquities authorities, the renovations of the 19th-century synagogue were done to the facade, decorations and the lighting system.

The Head of a museum at the Alexandria Library, Hussein Abdel-Baseer, said that the restoration of the synagogue sent a message to the world emphasizing that Egypt was interested in its Islamic, Coptic, and Jewish heritage.

He told Egypt’s state Middle East News Agency that the renovated synagogue housed 50 ancient copies of the Torah.

According to Abdel-Baseer, the synagogue was originally built in the 14th century but was heavily damaged during the 18th-century French invasion of Egypt. It was rebuilt in 1850.

In recent years, Egyptian authorities have revamped many relics dating back to different epochs of its history as part of it’s effort to revive its ailing tourism industry, a main source of national income.

 

NAN