Poland: Polish culture web site highlights Polish synagogues

The Polish web site culture.pl has run a travel article highlighting a selection of synagogues that can be visited in Poland. Most stand in towns where there are no longer Jewish communities and have been restored and converted for use as Jewish museums and other cultural centers.

Culture.pl is the web site of the  Adam Mickiewicz Institute – a national cultural institution promoting Poland and Polish culture worldwide, and we are happy to see the web site highlight the historical importance and architectural treasures that these synagogues represent.  The article includes photographs, description, and history of the buildings.

It gives prominence to eight synagogues and briefly mentions several others.

We have written about many of these places — and we must note that quite a few synagogues we feel are worth visiting have been left out of the web site’s brief list!

These include important synagogues in Warsaw and Krakow that have been beautifully restored and are still used for religious services (i.e. the 16th century Remuh synagogue, the 17th century Izaak synagogue,  the Kupa synagogue, and the ornate Tempel synagogue..

The culture.pl list includes:

— The Old Synagogue, Krakow — for more than 50 years the Jewish history branch of the Krakow city museum

— The 16th century synagogue in Pinczow (with a mention of the synagogues in Szydlow and Chmielnik)

— The 17th century synagogue in Zamosc, revitalized in 2009- 2011 to house the new Synagogue Centre, together with the Multimedia Museum of the Jews of Zamość and the Surrounding Area. (Also a mention of the synagogues in Leczna and Szczebrzeszyn)

— The synagogue in Łańcut, with its beautiful polychrome decoration. (With a mention of the two synagogues in Rzeszów, and the one in Lesko.)

— The synagogue in Tykocin, built in 1642 and restored as a Jewish museum in the 1970s.

— In Biłgoraj, the brand-new fullscale replica of the destroyed wooden synagogue of Wolpa (now in Belarus)

— The elegant baroque synagogue in Włodawa, which anchors a museum complex.

— The White Synagogue in Sejny, part of the Borderland Foundation complex

— The Moorish style New Synagogue in Ostrów Wielkopolski, constructed between 1857 and 1860 and remodelled in 1903. Today, the building hosts the Centre of Three Cultures, in which concerts, theatrical events and conferences take place. (With mention of the synagogues in Piotrkow Tribunalski (now a library), as well as Wroclaw and Nowy Sącz, both of which serve cultural and religious purposes)

The article also mentions some of what it calls “Hidden Synagogues” — some of the many synagogues that, during and after the Holocaust, were transformed, often out of recognition, for other use — ranging from cultural spaces to dwellings, shops, workshops; even restaurants, sports facilities, warehouses….

Access the article on culture.pl

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Click here to read the culture.pl article