The 17th century synagogue in the village of Tykocin, in northeast Poland, was one of the few former synagogue buildings in Poland to be restored after the Holocaust for a cultural use that retained a cultural, if not religious, Jewish identity.
The grand, early Baroque structure, originally built in 1642, was devastated by the Nazis. It underwent full restoration and opened in the late 1970s as the Jewish history branch of the Podlaskie regional museum, one of the very few Jewish museums in Poland to function under communism. With its massive central Bimah, decorated Ark, wall paintings of texts, and permanent Judaica exhibition, it is a major attraction in the little town, visited by at least 60,000 people a year. Last fall, the Tykocin synagogue was voted one of the “new seven wonders” of Poland, in the third edition of a readers’ contest sponsored by the Polish edition of National Geographic Traveller magazine.
Virtual Shtetl, citing local media, reports that the government of Podlaskie Province last month allocated PLN 145 thousand (about $50,000) for urgent repairs to the building, which was last renovated about 20 years ago. These include restoration of the façade, replacing windows and installing a central heating system. The allocated sum will only cover a fraction of the total costs of repairs.
The Government is in the process of drawing an agreement to be signed by the Museum. After signing the agreement, a public auction will be announced to outsource the contractor. The project and the cost estimates will be ready by this autumn. If more funds are obtained, the works may kick off in 2015. Andrzej Lechowski, Director of Podlaskie Museum, thinks that the overhaul of the building may cost as much as one million zlotys.
Read full article on Virtual Shtetl Also see article (in Polish) in wspolczesna.pl
This brief video shows the interior architecture and exhibit.