We’ve written and posted pictures about the four-year, more than €1 million restoration of the former synagogue in Alytus, Lithuania, which was completed in January.
Work on the project started in 2016 and entailed structural restoration as well as restoration of interior features, including delicate wall paintings.
Lithuanian state broadcaster LRT has now posted a video about the restoration — even without understanding the commentary, you can appreciate the archival footage showing the condition of the building in 2018 and see the transformation.
(NOTE: the last five or six minutes of the video show the restoration of another site, a medieval butcher’s shop in Vilnius)
The restored building will become a division of the Alytus Ethnographic Museum, hosting exhibitions, conferences, seminars, educational programs, training, lectures, book presentations, film screenings, and other activities. There will also be a permanent exhibition on local Jewish history.
A news release in late 2020 from the state’s Cultural Infrastructure Center (KIC) said costs for the restoration totalled more than €1 million. The Lithuanian Ministry of Culture allocated €206,056 from European Union funds; €238,504.16 were added by the Alytus City Municipality, and €584,200 euros were allocated from the funds of the Heritage Management Program.
Read details of the restoration and about the synagogue in our previous article
See our article from February 2020 about the renovation
See our article from 2017 about the early stages of the renovation
See detailed Center for Jewish Art description and photos of the building