NISSAN

•

buying handcrafted pottery
and leather items while
strolling its narrow, winding
streets.
Back in Malaga, the old city
is especially enticing. Major
sights include the Renais-
sance-style Cathedral with
much interior gilding, built
between 1528 and 1782 over
an Arab mosque. Known as
the "one-armed lady," its
second tower was never built,
it's said, because money was
sent to the Americans during
our war of independence.
• A block away, in the
gardens, stands the statue of
the native Solomon Ibn
Gabirol, the 11th-century
Hebrew poet and philosopher
for whom several Israeli
streets are named. This selec-
tion is Las Juderias, the
medieval Jewish quarters. Its
narrow streets now form the
town's oldest part and are
especially lively at night with
popular bars.
Sardinia, an Italian island
off most paths, revealed an
unexpected treat. Dr. Annie
Clark, a teacher from Eng-
land, provided a fascinating
tour. We taxied to the top of
the hill, Castelo, in Cagliari,
then walked down through .
the old town.

Ports not on the
usual itinerary
provide many
Jewish sights.

It dates from about 1200 CE
with bronze Neolithic-era
statues, an archaelogical
museum and a 13th-century
cathedral on the Piazzo Palaz-
zo. On the hillside stands a
2nd-century Roman amphi-
theater carved into the rock,
where operas are performed
in the summer.
The next Sicilian port pro-
vided a delightful day. We
docked in Messina, a city
devastated in a 1908-earth-
quake and in World War II
bombings. The ships' accom-
modating crew arranged a
delightful half-hour journey
by van to Taormina, the
visual highlight of the trip.
At Piazza Vittoria Emanuel
II, the ancient agora in Greek
times, visitors and locals sit
outdoors and sip a cappucino
within distance of the Palaz-
zo Corvaia.
The 3rd-century BCE
Greek Theatre, however,
presented one of the most
spectacular sights many of
the visitors had ever seen.
The ancient theaters in
Israel, Greece and Italy are
marvels in building and
acoustics, but none provide
such a dramatic sight.

Centered between two sec-
tions of brick arches and col-
umns stands the snow-
covered 11,000-foot-high
Mount Etna, smoking from
its four craters!
Corfu, the next port, was
somewhat disappointing.
Those expecting to find a
sparkling Greek island with
white buildings were dissat-
isfied. The gem for Jewish
visitors, however, is the
Jewish history and communi-
ty. An ancient synagogue and
cemetery remain, with the
ghetto near the New Fort
behind the bus station. A
Jewish community was
recorded by Benjamin of
Tudela in 1170, that traveling
precursor of Marco Polo.
During its Venetian heyday,
this was the empire's richest
and most influential ghetto.
By the end of Venetian rule,
Jews constituted 25 percent of
Corfu's population; during
the Nazi occupation, most of
its Jewish citizens were ship-
ped to concentration camps
and gas chambers. The func-
tioning synagogue has a
magnificently carved,
elevated bimah.
Finally, Venice. No matter
how often visited, even in the
cold and rain, it's romantic
and gorgeous.
The Venetian Republic had
a Jewish presence from its
earliest Christian times, with
a major influx arriving after
the 1942 expulsion.
The German School (or
Scuole, meaning synagogue)
founded by Ashkenazic Ger-
man and Swiss congregants,
today harbors the Museum of
the Jewish Community. Love-
ly 18th- and 19th-century
silver and brass menorahs,
Torah crowns and kiddush
cups, and embroidered silk
ark hangings are displayed.
The restored synagogue re-
mains on the top level, with
its gilded ark, intricate brass
chandeliers and . women's
balcony with carved balus-
trades. The seats, arranged on
the length of the room, are
combined with dark wood
desk tops which open to store
books.
Nearby, the Canton Syna-
gogue, founded by a wealthy
German banking family, is
barely distinguishable . on the
outside, wedged in among
other buildings. Its interior,
however, is arguably the most
elaborate, with carved and
gilded Aharon Kodesh, walls
and columns.
The Italian Synagogue was
built by the poorest and
smallest contingent.
On the square's western
wall hangs a seven-part
bronze sculpture commemo-
rating Venetian Jews de-
stroyed by the Nazis.

❑

"Right Place.
Rig/it Time."

MI °
1993 SENTRA XE 2 DR.
AVNI

LEASE FOR

1

VEIL 7 ...nrs '

00*

per
mo.
36
Months

BUY $
FOR

Air conditioning. AM//FM stereo with cassette, cruise, power windows, rear defroster.
Stk. #11622

0 ,339 *

MSRP

1993 ALTIMA GXE

$12,035

LEASE FOR

I 9900 **
mo.

per

Auto. Trans., air conditioning, AM/FM stereo with cassette, cruise, Tilt steering, power
windows, locks & mirrors. Stk. #11301

moo
` MSRP

1993 MAXIMA GXE

$14,995*

$16,199

LEASE FOR

DOVitig $26700**

Per
mo.
24
Months

BUY
FOR

Automatic trans., air conditioning, air bag, power mirrors, locks & windows, AM/FM
stereo with cassette. Stk. /11746

$1 7i 153*

MSRP

$21,460

'Plus tax, title, destination fee, license & DOC fees. All leases require 1st mo. pymt., DOC, title, license, $350 acq. fee at inception. Pymta plus applicable taxes. 15,000 miles per year
limit w/15¢ per mile over at lease end. Mime 48 mo. dosed end lease requires $1500 cash down, ref. sec. dep. of $225 w/option to buy at lease end for $7,613.51 Sentra 36 mo.dosed
end lease requires ref. sec. dep. of $150 w/option to buy at lease end for $6,980.39. Maxima 24 mo. lease requires ref. sec. dep. of $300 w/option to buy at lease end
Subject to credit approval, prior safes excluded Offer subject to change.
al $13,519.40.

iu

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