Work has begun to restore the ruined synagogue in Chechelnyk, southwestern Ukraine, for the use of Hasidic pilgrims visiting the graves of the Tzaddik Moshe Zvi Giterman of Savran and his descendants, according to the Religious Information Service of Ukraine.
It said work was also going on to restore the Jewish cemetery, where Giterman’s ohel is located.
Probably built in the 18th century, the synagogue was used as a furniture shop during the Soviet period and has stood vacant and derelict since the 1990s. Little of its interior fittings remain intact.
The Center for Jewish Art description says:
The three-bay wide western entryway, originally plaster over rubble masonry, has a large round-arched doorway in the entry, whose form is framed by the slightly arched string course above it. The second story has small windows, whose locations parallel those of the features of the lower story: the entryway and the flanking windows. Powerfully molded brick detail – impressive even without the plaster coating- separates the bays. Wide pilasters with inset panels whose form is repeated in the upper story and on the roof cornice separate the flanking bays from the entrance bay.
The highly decorative treatment of this west facade contrasts strongly with that of the three other facades, which are rather plain. The decorated corners of the building feature pilasters, which repeat an abbreviated form of the main facade’s pilasters.
See description of the building and other documentation by the Center for Jewish Art
“My Shtetl” page on Chechelnyk
Here is a slide show and video of the synagogue from 2012: