Acoustic evaluation of the great Synagogue of Rome

The acoustics of a place of worship, where the volumetric arrangement of the spaces and the materials are invested with a symbolic importance in the private and communal conversation with the transcendent, often has features that do not fully meet the usual standards precisely because of this pre-eminence of aesthetic criteria over acoustic ones. In the case of the Great Synagogue of Rome, a place that is important also from an architectural viewpoint, the predominance of aesthetic canon over those strictly acoustic ones is clearly evident, and it is this that causes certain problems of reception in some areas of the Temple The analysis of the acoustics of the Temple Maggiore, also because of the limited time granted for the survey, was carried out using the combined technique approach, namely the integration of phonometric analyses with data from a simulation programme. To this end, the Ramsete simulation programme was used employing the model of the Synagogue in Ramsete CAD. The phonometric analyses were also used for calibrating the simulation model. From an examination of the data regarding the various acoustic parameters taken into consideration, above all a good uniformity in the distribution of the sound levels emerges, with mean values sufficient for being able to hear the spoken message well. The acoustic analysis carried out inside the main Synagogue of Rome, notwithstanding the small number of acoustic parameters taken into consideration because of the limited time granted for carrying out the work, evidenced a good integration of the architectonic spaces and the usual acoustical requirements for these places of worship, which have been conceived with specific religious ceremonies in mind. In these sectors, in addition to problems of comprehensibility, there are also various acoustic shadow zones. These situations would require the installation of a dedicated and appropriately sized sound system.