Restoration of the exterior of the Gėlių st. synagogue in Vilnius has been completed, Martynas Užpelkis, who handles Jewish heritage issues for the Lithuanian Jewish community, reports in an article on the Jewish community web site, which also posted a picture of the building (see above).
Renovation on the synagogue on Gėlių street in Vilnius, the Zavl Germaize and David Levinson Synagogue, continues, but work has been completed on the façade and floor, and new doors and windows in line with the traditional ones were installed. The Lithuanian Jewish Community owns the building. The role of contractor for renovation work was carried out by the public sector Lietuvos Paminklai [Monuments of Lithuania] enterprise and renovation was conducted by the Nivara company. This year as in the foregoing three reconstruction work was financed by the Lithuanian state and the Goodwill Foundation. In 2017 the Cultural Heritage Department under the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture allocated 120,000 euros and the [Lithuanian Jewish Community] contributed 16,000 euros allocated by the Goodwill Foundation.
We reported two years ago on the beginning of the restoration of the brick building, which had stood empty for more than 25 years.
The synagogue, one of only two to survive in Vilnius, was built between 1817 and 1833 on the site of a wooden building which once belonged to the merchant Zavel Peisakhovich — it is sometimes called the Zavel synagogue. The synagogue was restored many times and greatly expanded in the second half of the 19th century. It operated until 1940. After World War II it housed storage facilities and apartments, and from 1990 on was abandoned.
As we reported earlier this month, the Choral Synagogue has also been undergoing repair work.
Read full article (which also highlights other renovation and repair work)
1 comment on “Lithuania: Exterior restoration of Gėlių st. synagogue completed”
Rather than there being only two standing synagogues left in Vilna as stated, it is worth noting that quite a few others are still extant. Notable examples (there are more) are found further down Geliu St. (Epstein’s kloyz); the Khurgin kloyz in Aguonu St. (now used as the Afghanistan war veteran’s club) and the Fishmonger’s kloyz on Gaon St. (now used as the Austrian Embassy).