KAMII - the oldest synagogue of Chicago

Obama's house is almost opposite the oldest synagogue of Chicago (Hyde Park was a traditionally Jewish neighbourhood), and we took some photos of it too.

You should look at the interesting minaret, as in a mosque, reminding us of the Semitic roots of this religion and thus the Middle-Eastern architectural style (the website of the synagogue calls it Byzantine, which is accurate too).

The temple is called Kehilath Anshe Maarav Isaiah Israel (KAMII) and the congregation, though housed in other neighbourhoods of Chicago and buildings since its inception in 1847, moved to the current building In Hyde Park in 1924.

We weren't able to go inside but I took a couple of the photos from their website so you can see how beautiful it is. We should try to see if it's open to the general public for a visit while we're here.

(L)