Turin's Jewish community commissioned Alessandro Antonelli to build a synagogue, with a budget of 250,000 lire, and he promised to build for 280,000. Construction began in 1863. Work halted in 1869 under a provisional roof, and the community withdrew in 1876 after spending 692,000 lire. The city took over, and Antonelli kept raising the height. He died in October 1888, and the star was set on April 10, 1889.
The tower reaches 550 feet (167.5 m). It is brick without a steel skeleton, and the article calls it the tallest unreinforced brick building in the world. A cloudburst with a tornado on May 23, 1953 destroyed the top 154 feet (47 m) of the pinnacle. It was rebuilt in 1961 as a metal structure faced with stone.
The Museo Nazionale del Cinema has occupied it since 2000, and the article calls it believed to be the tallest museum in the world. It names no style for the Mole.
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