Great Synagogue (Husiatyn)

Last updated

Great Synagogue
Synagogue Husyatin 02.jpg
The former synagogue, in 2018
Religion
Affiliation Orthodox Judaism (former)
Rite
Ecclesiastical or organisational status
StatusAbandoned
Location
LocationGeroiv Maydany Street, Husiatyn, Ternopil Oblast 48200
Country Ukraine
Reliefkarte Ukraine 2022.png
Red pog.svg
Location of the former synagogue in Ukraine
Geographic coordinates 49°04′24″N26°12′31″E / 49.07333°N 26.20861°E / 49.07333; 26.20861
Architecture
Type Synagogue architecture
Style
Completed
  • 1654;
  • 1742 (rebuild)

The Great Synagogue (Festungs-Schule) is a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located on Geroiv Maydany Street, in Husiatyn, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine. The congregation worshipped initially in the Ashkenazi rite; [1] however, by the late 19th-century, the congregation worshipped according to Hassidic practices. [2]

Contents

Described as "one of the loveliest and most splendid in Galicia"; [3] and as "exquisite", [4] the former synagogue building is listed as a monument of Architectural Heritage of National Importance of Ukraine.

History

Built in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1654, [lower-alpha 1] the synagogue is a rare example of Renaissance fortress architecture. [4] [10] [11] After a fire in 1742, the synagogue was rebuilt and almost lost all its distinctive defensive features. The rebuild incorporated Moorish Revival and Gothic Revival decorative elements in the façade and interior.

Damaged during and after World War II the building ceased to operate as a synagogue following invasion by German Nazis in 1941. [2] In 1972 the standing ruin was renovated and turned into a Jewish history museum. [12] In 2014, the building, no longer a museum, was listed by government authorities as available for lease. [6] Today,[ when? ] the roof has collapsed and the building stands vacant.

See also

Notes

  1. The synagogue is often erroneously described as a 16th-century synagogue. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synagogue</span> Place of worship for Jews and Samaritans

A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It has a place for prayer where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, choir performances, and children's plays. They also have rooms for study, social halls, administrative and charitable offices, classrooms for religious and Hebrew studies, and many places to sit and congregate. They often display commemorative, historic, or modern artwork alongside items of Jewish historical significance or history about the synagogue itself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester Jewish Museum</span> Jewish museum in Manchester, England

The Manchester Jewish Museum is a Jewish history museum, located on 190 Cheetham Hill Road in Manchester, England, in the United Kingdom. The museum occupies the site of a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue, the place of worship for the Congregation of Spanish & Portuguese Jews, called the Spanish & Portuguese Synagogue, also the Sha'are Tephillah Synagogue. The congregation worships in the Sephardic rite from premises located at 18 Moor Lane, Kersal, Salford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Synagogue architecture</span>

Synagogue architecture often follows styles in vogue at the place and time of construction. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. According to tradition, the Shekhinah or divine presence can be found wherever there is a minyan, a quorum, of ten. A synagogue always contains an Torah ark where the Torah scrolls are kept, called the aron qodesh by Ashkenazi Jews and the hekhal by Sephardic Jews.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Husiatyn</span> Rural locality in Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine

Husiatyn is a rural settlement in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Husiatyn settlement hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Husiatyn is located on the west bank of the Zbruch River, which once formed the old boundary between Austria-Hungary and the Russian Empire in the 19th century, and the boundary between Poland and the Soviet Union during the 1920s and 1930s. The population is 7,032.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sofia Synagogue</span> Synagogue in Sofia, Bulgaria

The Sofia Synagogue is a Romaniote Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Sofia, Bulgaria. Completed in 1909, the synagogue is the largest synagogue in Southeastern Europe, the third-largest in Europe, and one of two active synagogues remaining in Bulgaria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singers Hill Synagogue</span> Orthodox synagogue in Birmingham, England

The Singers Hill Synagogue, officially the Birmingham Hebrew Congregation, is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 26, 26A and 26B Blucher Street, in the Birmingham city centre, in the West Midlands of England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation dates from 1780 and worshiped in the Ashkenazi rite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uzhhorod Synagogue</span> Former synagogue in Uzhhorod, Ukraine

The Uzhhorod Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Uzhhorod, in the present day Zakarpattia Oblast of western Ukraine. When it was established in 1904, it was located within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The congregation worshipped in the Ashkenazi rite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Synagogue (Copenhagen)</span> Orthodox synagogue in Copenhagen, Denmark

The Great Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Krystalgade 12, in Copenhagen, Denmark. The congregation was formed at some stage during the 17th century and their first synagogue completed in 1766. The current synagogue was completed in 1833 and is defined by its unique architecture around the Ark. During the first half of the 19th century, synagogues continued to be built in the classical tradition, but there began to be a revival of Greek and Roman architecture. The Great Synagogue in Copenhagen is one of a few synagogues of its period to use Egyptian elements in the columns, ceiling and cornice over the ark.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New West End Synagogue</span> Synagogue in London, England

The New West End Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in St. Petersburgh Place, Bayswater, in the City of Westminster, London, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation has been a member of United Synagogue since 1879.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Synagogue (Canterbury)</span> Former synagogue in Canterbury, England

The Old Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 944 King Street in Canterbury, Kent, England, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1720, the congregation worshiped in the Ashkenazi rite until it was dissolved in c. 1911. Between 2008 and 2004, a non-denominational Jewish community occasionally worshiped in the former synagogue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Czernowitz Synagogue</span> Former synagogue in Chernivtsi, Ukraine

The Czernowitz Synagogue, also called The Temple of Czernowitz was a former Reform Jewish synagogue located in Chernivtsi, in the Chernivtsi Oblast of Ukraine. The synagogue was built in 1873 in what was then called Czernowitz, in the Austrian Hungary Empire. Closed in 1940, the building was repurposed and used as a movie theater since 1959.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Middle Street Synagogue</span> Synagogue in Brighton, England

The Middle Street Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 66 Middle Street, in the centre of Brighton, in the city of Brighton and Hove, Sussex, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation was formed in c. 1820s as the Brighton Hebrew Congregation and since 1918, was known as the Brighton & Hove Hebrew Congregation, and worshiped in the Ashkenazi rite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sunderland Synagogue</span> Former synagogue in Sunderland, England

The Sunderland Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located on Ryhope Road, in Sunderland, Tyne and Wear, England, in the United Kingdom. The congregation was formed as the Sunderland Hebrew Congregation in 1861 and worshiped in the Ashkenazi rite until the congregation was dissolved in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Synagogue (Lutsk)</span> Former synagogue in Lutsk, Ukraine

The Great Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located at 33 Karaimska Street, in the Jewish quarter of Lutsk, in Volynska Oblast, Ukraine. The congregation worshipped in the Ashkenazi rite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kharkiv Choral Synagogue</span> Orthodox synagogue in Kharkiv, Ukraine

The Kharkiv Choral Synagogue is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located at 12 Pushkinska Street, Kharkiv, in the Kharkiv Oblast of Ukraine. The Chabad congregation worships in the synagogue, also called Beit Menachem, reportedly the largest synagogue in Ukraine, and a building of architectural significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Synagogue (Velyki Mosty)</span> Former synagogue in Velyki Mosty, Ukraine

The Great Synagogue is a former Jewish synagogue, located on Bandery Street, in Velyki Mosty, in the Lviv Oblast of Ukraine. The congregation worshipped in the Ashkenazi rite. The former synagogue was completed in 1911 has since been abandoned, and is now ruined.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choral Synagogue (Drohobych)</span> Synagogue in Drohobych, Ukraine

The Choral Synagogue, also called the Great Synagogue, is an Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located on Pylypa Orlyka Street, in Drohobych, Lviv Oblast in Ukraine. The congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Synagogue (Pidhaitsi)</span> Former synagogue in Pidhaitsi, Ukraine

The Great Synagogue was a former Jewish synagogue, located in Pidhaitsi, Ternopil Oblast in Ukraine. The congregation worshipped in the Ashkenazi rite. Built prior to 1648, the fortress synagogue was abandoned during World War II, was used for grain storage thereafter, then as a ruin before its collapse in 2019 and subsequent demolition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Synagogue (Brody)</span> Former synagogue in Brody, Ukraine

The Great Synagogue of Brody, also known as the Old Fortress Synagogue, is a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue, located in Brody, in the Lviv Oblast of Ukraine. The congregation worshipped in the Ashkenazi rite. Constructed in the mid-18th century in the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, the building was significantly damaged by the Nazis in 1943, and has since fallen into disrepair.

References

  1. "Great Synagogue in Husiatyn, Ukraine". The Bezalel Narkiss Index of Jewish Art. Israel: Center for Jewish Art. n.d. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Husiatyn". History of Jewish Communities in Ukraine. 28 May 2013. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  3. Ansky, S. (2003). The Enemy at His Pleasure: A Journey Through the Jewish Pale of Settlement During World War I. Translated by Joachim Neugroschel. Macmillan. p. 253.
  4. 1 2 Bartov, Omer (2007). Erased: Vanishing Traces of Jewish Galicia in Present-day Ukraine. Princeton University Press. p. 105 ff.
  5. "Husiatyn. A view of the 16th century fortress synagogue" (image and text). YIVO Archives: Jewish life in Poland. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  6. 1 2 "Deteriorating Husiatyn, Ukraine fortress synagogue is for rent". Jewish Heritage Europe. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  7. "Great Synagogue (Husiatyn)". Religiana. Belgium. 2024. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  8. Wilkinson, Chris (21 May 2016). "The Last Place In the World – Husiatyn, Ukraine: Lost In Time". LinkedIn . Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  9. Seitz, Abby (2024). "Synagogues of Ukraine, Past and Present". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
  10. "Pds Sso". Digital.cjh.org. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 3 March 2014.
  11. "Ukraine synagogues part 1". Jewish postcards.
  12. "Synagogye". Judaica.kiev.ua. Archived from the original on 11 February 2012. Retrieved 3 March 2014.