Uzhhorod Synagogue | |
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Ukrainian: Ужгородська Синагога | |
Religion | |
Affiliation | Orthodox Judaism (former) |
Rite | Nusach Ashkenaz |
Ecclesiastical or organisational status |
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Status |
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Location | |
Location | Uzhhorod |
Country | Ukraine |
Location of the former synagogue in Ukraine | |
Geographic coordinates | 48°37′21″N22°18′4″E / 48.62250°N 22.30111°E |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | |
Type | Synagogue architecture |
Style | |
Completed | 1904 |
Dome(s) | One |
The Uzhhorod Synagogue is a former Orthodox Jewish synagogue located 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.
Acquired by the Soviet Government in 1947, the former synagogue building has been used as a concert hall.
The synagogue was completed and dedicated on July 27, 1904. It was then part of the Lands of the Crown of St. Stephen within the ustro-Hungarian Empire.
The building was designed by the architects Gyula Papp and Ferenc Szabolcs, [1] in a flamboyant Romantic style that boldly intermingled Byzantine Revival and Moorish Revival architectural elements. The image of the Star of David on the central balcony of the building façade was a notable feature. [2]
In 1944, after the destruction of the Carpathian Jews, the fate of the synagogue changed. In 1947, the Soviet government gave the synagogue to the USSR Ministry of Culture, [2] and the building has served as Uzhhorod's concert hall, prized for its acoustics. It has housed the Regional Philharmonic Society with the Transcarpathian Folk Choir.
All Jewish symbols were removed from the building, [2] although as of 2012 [update] there was a plaque on the facade commemorating the 85,000 Jews from Zakarpattia Oblast who were murdered in The Holocaust. As of 2015 [update] , plans were announced to restore the glass dome with its mosaics. [3] However, by 2019 those plans were yet to be realised, with a local congregation using the former synagogue occassionly for Jewish events. [4]
Carpathian Ruthenia is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast, with smaller parts in eastern Slovakia and the Lemko Region in Poland.
Zakarpattia Oblast, also referred to as simply Zakarpattia or Transcarpathia in English, is an oblast in western Ukraine, mostly coterminous with the historical region of Carpathian Ruthenia. Its administrative centre is the city of Uzhhorod. Other major cities within the oblast include Mukachevo, Khust, Berehove, and Chop, the last of which is home to railroad transport infrastructure.
Uzhhorod is a city and municipality on the Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Sea (650–690 km) making it the most inland city in this part of Europe. It is the administrative center of Zakarpattia Oblast (region), as well as the administrative center of Uzhhorod Raion (district) within the oblast. Population: 115,449.
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The modern bilateral relationship between Hungary and Ukraine formally began in the early 1990s, after the end of communism in Hungary in 1989 and Ukrainian independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. Since then, the relationship has been marred by controversy over the rights of the Hungarian minority in the western Ukrainian region of Zakarpattia, where 150,000 ethnic Hungarians reside. Hungary and Ukraine have embassies in Kyiv and Budapest, respectively, as well as consulates in regions with large minority populations.
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