Lesko Synagogue is a synagogue in

Lesko Lesko (or ''Lisko'' until 1926; ua, Лісько - Lisko; la, Lescow, alias ''Olesco Lescovium''; yi, לינסק-Linsk) is a town in south-eastern Poland with a population of 5,755 (02.06.2009). situated in the Bieszczady mountains. It is ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

. The synagogue had functioned as a place of worship until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

History

The synagogue was built during the years 1626-1654 by the

Sephardi Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

c Jewish community of Lesko. By the twentieth century, it was one of six synagogues in the town, and the only one whose building survived the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, although in a very damaged state; the interior was devastated by the German invaders of Poland. For almost two decades after the war, it was neglected. It was renovated from the 1960s onwards. The building was constructed in the

mannerist Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...

-early

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style with characteristic gables decorated with volutes and stone baroque vases. Some of the elements are gothic -

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es, tower. The façade bears a

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

inscription that reads, in translation: "He was afraid and said, 'How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven'" (Genesis 28:17). The interior was adorned in mannerist style with

niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ecology, the ...

cornice In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

s and

architrave In classical architecture, an architrave (; from it, architrave "chief beam", also called an epistyle; from Greek ἐπίστυλον ''epistylon'' "door frame") is the lintel or beam that rests on the capitals of columns. The term can ...

s. Since the 1980s the synagogue is the site of Muzeum Żydów Galicji (Museum of the Jews of Galicia) and an art gallery that includes exhibits by artists of the Bieszczady region.E. Baranowska (n.d.). "Synagoga w Lesku", Lesko: Biesczadzki Dom Kultury, p. 10.

Gallery

File:Synagoga w Lesku (od północy).JPG, South-facing view File:SynagogaLesko02.jpg, North-facing view (toward the city center) File:SynagogaLesko03.jpg, File:Lesko-synagoga1.jpg, The

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (Biblical Hebrew עשרת הדברים \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים, ''aséret ha-dvarím'', lit. The Decalogue, The Ten Words, cf. Mishnaic Hebrew עשרת הדיברות \ עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְ� ...

File:Lesko-synagoga2.jpg, East-facing view File:Synagoga w Lesku - balustrada bimy 01.JPG, File:Interior of Former Synagogue - Lesko - Poland (36308136841).jpg, Interior, showing an art exhibition (2017)

References

External links

Historia synagogi
17th-century synagogues Art museums and galleries in Poland Former synagogues in Poland Hasidic Judaism in Poland Hasidic synagogues Lesko County Museums in Podkarpackie Voivodeship Sephardi Jewish culture in Poland Sephardi synagogues Synagogues destroyed by Nazi Germany {{Poland-synagogue-stub

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links