Explore Religious Heritage Across Europe

The Great Synagogue in Pazardzhik is a Sephardi synagogue built between 1850 and 1859 by the master builder Stavri Temelkov. The synagogue was restored in 1988-89. The stone building served as a synagogue until the 1940s and is now a museum.

The synagogue is located in a large piazza, on the periphery of the historic urban core. Designed by Frigyes Feszl, Károly Gerster and Lipót Kauser, it was erected in 1869 for the newly established Neolog community. It is one of the large synagogues that combine Neo-Moorish and Neo-Romanesque features in their design. The synagogue was restored in the 1990s and serves the Jewish community of Pécs.

The Great Synagogue in Piotrków Trybunalski is an Ashkenazi synagogue built in 1791-93. The synagogue was restored in the 1860s and after 1945. This Romantic Historicist brick building now serves as a library.

The Great Synagogue in Polonne is an Ashkenazi synagogue built around 1800. The former synagogue now serves as an office.

The Great Synagogue in Przysucha is an Ashkenazi synagogue built between 1764 and 1777. The synagogue was restored in 1970 and 2013. This stone synagogue is under reconstruction.

The Great Synagogue of Rashkov, a noticeable monument of regional baroque architecture, was constructed presumably in 1749, during the rabbinical tenure (1748-52) of R. Yaakov Yosef of Polonne (d. 1783), the author of the first hasidic book "Toldot Yaakov Yosef". The synagogue was ruined in 1930s, during an anti-religious campaign in the USSR. Since then only its roofless, unprotected walls remain, while some elements of its historical shape and decoration may be virtually reconstructed from the old photographs, drawings, and the memories of the prewar gabai's son Mikhail Voronsky (1914-2014). His memories were recorded in word and drawing by another Rashkov fellow, an Israeli architect Moris Kleinerman, who recently produced a meticulous graphical reconstruction of the synagogue in its better days. The synagogue was a monumental masonry edifice under a saddle roof, shielded by a shaped gable on its main, western front (the gable is not preserved). According to Voronsky's testimony, the main interior space of the synagogue was a lofty prayer hall with four pillars (also not extant) supporting eight perimeter bays of groined vaults; the central bay above the "bimah" was spanned by a cupola hidden in the roof space. The synagogue was decorated with interior paintings, representations of the Signs of Zodiac, real and fantastic birds and animals, and panels inscribed with prayers; the hall was lit by stained glass windows. In addition to the main hall, there were a western vestibule with a minute "winter synagogue" on the north, a council room on the south, and a women's area on the upper floor. A staircase inside the western wall lead from the council room to the attic. What makes this synagogue outstanding is its decoration with carved stone panels on exterior and interior. The carved central cartouche of the western elevation, the window hoods, the main Torah ark and that of the winter synagogue the niche for "ner tamid" and small niches in the eastern wall are masterful examples of local baroque. Especially interesting was a carved bas-relief seven-branched Menorah attached to the southern wall of the prayer hall: it echoed the ancient Menorah, likewise located on the southern side of the Tabernacle and the Temple of Jerusalem.

The Great Synagogue in Ruzhany is an Ashkenazi synagogue built in the 18th century. This Baroque brick synagogue is now abandoned.

Jews settled in Sibiu in the mid-19th century. There were 5 and 9 Jews in 1850 and 1857 respectively, and 168 Jews in 1869. By the turn of the 20th century, however, the community was much larger and numbered 875 Jews in 1900 and 1,307 in 1910. Such a large community needed a synagogue, which could reflect its size and prosperity. The Great Synagogue in Sibiu was erected in 1899 according to the design of a Hungarian architect Ferenc Szalay. Although the synagogue is well preserved, is was not used for worship in the last 40 years. The small Jewish community today uses for prayer a room in the community building behind the synagogue. The Great Synagogue is a large building with an impressive western façade facing one of the main streets of Sibiu. The façade features Neo-Romanesque decorations and is surmounted by the Tablets of the Law. The magnificent prayer hall expresses the taste of the Orthodox current among Hungarian Jews: the "bimah" is situated in the center of the hall and the women's gallery has a "mehitzah"/arches with curtains, which prevent men from seeing women. Four wooden columns are placed at the corners of the "bimah", a feature popular in Hungarian synagogues. The eastern wall of the hall is richly decorated with murals.

The Great Synagogue in Sokal is an Ashkenazi synagogue built at the end of the 17th or the beginning of the 18th century. The Baroque brick synagogue is now abandoned.

The Great Synagogue in Stockholm is an Ashkenazi synagogue built between 1867 and 1870 by the architect Fredrik Wilhelm Sholander. This Neo-Moorish brick building still serves as a synagogue.