The restoration of the long-abandoned Lipot Baumhorn-designed synagogue in Lučenec, Slovakia — and its transformation into a cultural center — is nearing completion. City authorities say it will be officially opened to the public with an inaugural event in May.
The restored building will also include a Holocaust memorial.
The Lucenec municipality has shared pictures on its Facebook page of the restored interior of the huge domed building, showing the transformation.
Active work on the restoration, financed by a €2.3 million EU grant, only kicked off last summer, after years of hopes and fitful, aborted plans.
Completed in 1926, the immense domed structure is the only surviving synagogue out of five that once stood in the town, which is in southern Slovakia near the border with Hungary. It was designed by the prolific Hungarian synagogue architect Lipot Baumhorn and is a typical example of Baumhorn’s grand, eclectic style. Among his more than 20 other synagogues are the great synagogue in Szeged, Hungary, and the synagogues in Esztergom and Szolnok, Hungary.
See our post from last summer on the restoration
See more pictures at the synagogue’s Facebook page