Il Kal Grande

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Il Kal Grande
Il Kal Grandi
Postcard of Il Kal Grande in Sarajevo between 1932-1941.jpg
The former synagogue, in c. 1930s – c. 1940s
Religion
Affiliation Orthodox Judaism (former)
Ecclesiastical or organizational status
Ownership Bosnian Cultural Center
Status
  • Closed(as a synagogue);
  • Repurposed
Location
Location Sarajevo
Country Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina relief location map.png
Red pog.svg
Location in
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Mapa polozaja Sarajevo.svg
Red pog.svg
Il Kal Grande (Sarajevo)
Geographic coordinates 43°51′26″N18°25′19″E / 43.85720171284883°N 18.422037471148602°E / 43.85720171284883; 18.422037471148602
Architecture
Architect(s) Rudolf Lubinski
Type Synagogue architecture
Style Moorish Revival
Completed1930
Construction cost YUM18 million
Destroyed16 April 1941 (partial)
Specifications
Capacity1,000 worshipers
Dome(s)One
Dome height (outer)36 metres (118 ft)
Designated as NHL
Official nameIl Kal Grande, the historic monument
TypeCategory II cultural property
DesignatedNovember 10, 2003
(decision No. 06-6-977/03-3)
Reference no. 114
National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Location of the building in local neighborhood
Il Kal Grande

Il Kal Grande, also spelled Il Kal Grandi (Judaeo-Spanish: The Great Synagogue), is a former Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The congregation worshiped in the Sephardi rite. The building has been used as a cultural center since 1946. [1]

Contents

History

The large synagogue was constructed in the Moorish Revival style in 1930, by a design of the architect Rudolf Lubinski. It was the largest and most ornate synagogue in the Balkans. It included a large, ornately decorated prayer-hall, a smaller prayer-hall for use during the week, a genizah, rooms for the rabbi and various other utilities since the building was meant to serve not only as a synagogue, but also as a community center. The building was consecrated in 1930 in a ceremony attended by the chief rabbi of Yugoslavia Dr. Isaac Alcalay, chief Sephardic rabbi of Sarajevo Dr. Moritz Levy and chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Sarajevo Dr. Hinko Urbach, among others. [2]

The building was heavily damaged and looted by the Nazis in 1941 during World War II, and the majority of the Jewish community was murdered in the Holocaust.

After WWII, all the Jews of Sarajevo used the Sarajevo Synagogue, the synagogue of the Ashkenazi community.

In 1946 Jewish community reached an agreement with the city's new government to donate a building to the City of Sarajevo, and to be used exclusively for cultural purpose. [1] The exterior of "Il Kal Grande" was restored in a simplified secular form in 1965, and the former dome was replaced with a flat roof. The building was initially used as the Đuro Đaković Workers' University Center and currently as the Bosnian Cultural Center. [1] [3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Il, Michael (2 August 2023). "Synagogue, workers' university, cultural center". History and Cultural Heritage in Eastern Europe. Copernico. Retrieved 18 May 2024.
  2. ↑ Rajner, Mirjem (2021). Il Kal Grandi - Sarajevo's Great Sephardic Temple: At the Crossroads Between Orient and Modernity. Bar-Ilan University, Department of Jewish Art.
  3. ↑ "O BKC-u – JU BKC KS" (in Bosnian). Retrieved 2025-05-30.


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