The synagogue's main room features a rectangular plan which is only slightly asymmetrical (12.9 x 7.1 x 12.7 x 6.5 m), in contrast to the marked irregularity of the ground plan in the nearby Scuola Grande Tedesca.
It occupies an inconspicuous spot on the third floor of a four-story vernacular building facing the Ghetto's main square, and is hardly noticeable from the outside.
An anonymous exterior was an indispensable feature for synagogues built in Venice in the early decades of the sixteenth century, since Jewish places of worship—although tolerated—were still formally prohibited at that time.
The synagogue stands on an elevated position (a feature shared with the nearby Scuola Grande Tedesca and Scuola Italiana) in accordance with Talmudic precepts about synagogue architecture; on a more practical note, the parcel where the building sits was owned by a prominent Venetian patrician family, but the raised placement put the synagogue under the direct control of the Jewish community.

The first floor entrance to the synagogue building consists of a spacious and luminous lobby divided by two white tuscan columns; a stairway, lined with nineteenth-century plaques commemorating prominent members of the community, connects it to the third story synagogue.
The current look of both the hall and the stairway is the result of a restoration carried out in the late 1850s.
On the third floor, the synagogue is accessed through a narrow vestibule lined with benches; four windows placed on the vestibule's west wall (bricked up in 1847, and reopened in 1980) overlook the main room.
The original function of such space—reminiscent of the anteroom (polish in Yiddish) often found in Central European synagogue buildings—is not clear; however, its layout suggests that it may have initially served as a matroneum.
A new raised womens' gallery was completed in 1736: from that moment on, and until 1847, the antechamber is thought to have been used by people unable to afford a seat in the main room.
Due to the synagogue's modest dimensions, the number of places was in fact limited: owning a seat was considered a status symbol, and seats were often handed down through generations within prominent families.
The synagogue's main room features a rectangular plan which is only slightly asymmetrical (12.9 x 7.1 x 12.7 x 6.5 m), in contrast to the marked irregularity of the ground plan in the nearby Scuola Grande Tedesca. It occupies an inconspicuous spot on the third floor of a four-story vernacular building facing the Ghetto's main square, and is hardly noticeable from the outside. An anonymous exterior was an indispensable feature for synagogues built in Venice in the early decades of the sixteenth century, since Jewish places of worship—although tolerated—were still formally prohibited at that time. The synagogue stands on an elevated position (a feature shared with the nearby Scuola Grande Tedesca and Scuola Italiana) in accordance with Talmudic precepts about synagogue architecture; on a more practical note, the parcel where the building sits was owned by a prominent Venetian patrician family, but the raised placement put the synagogue under the direct control of the Jewish community.
The first floor entrance to the synagogue building consists of a spacious and luminous lobby divided by two white tuscan columns; a stairway, lined with nineteenth-century plaques commemorating prominent members of the community, connects it to the third story synagogue. The current look of both the hall and the stairway is the result of a restoration carried out in the late 1850s. On the third floor, the synagogue is accessed through a narrow vestibule lined with benches; four windows placed on the vestibule's west wall (bricked up in 1847, and reopened in 1980) overlook the main room. The original function of such space—reminiscent of the anteroom (polish in Yiddish) often found in Central European synagogue buildings—is not clear; however, its layout suggests that it may have initially served as a matroneum. A new raised womens' gallery was completed in 1736: from that moment on, and until 1847, the antechamber is thought to have been used by people unable to afford a seat in the main room. Due to the synagogue's modest dimensions, the number of places was in fact limited: owning a seat was considered a status symbol, and seats were often handed down through generations within prominent families.
Canton Synagogue