The Choral Synagogue, also called the Great Synagogue, is an

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, located on Pylypa Orlyka Street, in

Drohobych Drohobych ( ; ; ) is a city in the south of Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. In 1939–1941 and 1944–1959 it w ...

Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast (, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna (, ), is an administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast in western Ukraine. The capital city, capital of the oblast is the city of Lviv. The current population is History Name The region is named ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

. The congregation worships in the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...

rite Rite may refer to: Religion * Ritual, an established ceremonious act * Rite (Christianity), sacred rituals in the Christian religion * Ritual family, Christian liturgical traditions; often also called ''liturgical rites'' * Catholic particular ch ...

History

It was built between 1844 and 1863. Up to 1918 it served as the ''Main Synagogue'' of Galicia within the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. After World War II Drohobych belonged to the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

. The authorities converted the building to a warehouse and altered it accordingly; and in later years it deteriorated. After Ukraine gained its independence, the synagogue was returned to the Jewish community. Funded with the philanthropic support of

Viktor Vekselberg Viktor Felixovich Vekselberg (born April 14, 1957) is a Russian-Israeli businessman and oligarch. He is the founder and chairman of Renova Group, a Russian conglomerate. According to ''Forbes'', as of November 2021, his fortune is estimated at ...

, renovations started in 2014; were completed in 2018; and in 2019 the congregation received its first Torah since World War II.

Architecture

The style of the three-story building is a variant of the then-popular

Rundbogenstil (round-arch style) is a 19th-century historic revival style of architecture popular in the German-speaking lands and the German diaspora. It combines elements of Byzantine, Romanesque, and Renaissance architecture with particular s ...

style. The entry is framed by massive

pilaster In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

s, surmounted by a decorated gable. Two windows are placed above it vertically. A larger gable, crowned by the tablets of the law surrounds the entry treatment. It again is supported on pilasters capped by decorative towers. Between the pilasters are vertical rows of three windows. The edges of the building's main

façade A façade or facade (; ) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a loanword from the French language, French (), which means "frontage" or "face". In architecture, the façade of a building is often the most important asp ...

a framed again by pilasters and topped by (smaller) towers. Another set of windows fills the space between the pilasters. This motif is repeated on all the façades, though on the north and south façades the three vertical windows are replaced by a three-story tall, round-headed window, and on the east façade, backing the

Torah ark A Torah ark (also known as the ''hekhal'', , or ''aron qodesh'', ) is an ornamental chamber in the synagogue that houses the Torah scrolls. History The ark is also known as the ''ark of law'', or in Hebrew the ''Aron Kodesh'' () or ''aron ha-Kod ...

, the centre window of the three is round. The two outer bays of the façade are stair towers, the building is actually as wide as the three central bays. The stairs lead to the two women's galleries, both of which are located above the entryway. The main hall (the prayer hall of the men) is of the ''nine-bay type'', a structure to be found in some synagogues of the early 17th century like the Great Suburb Synagogue, Lviv and the Great Maharsha Synagogue, Ostroh. In each of these synagogues, four supports are arranged in a square in the centre of the space visually divides it into nine units. The Bimah stood in the centre between the pillars.

Gallery

Дрогобич.Хоральна синагога.фото.JPG, Choral Synagogue in 2014 Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia e7 345-0.jpg, Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia illustration

References

External links

* * {{Jews and Judaism in Ukraine 1842 establishments in the Austrian Empire 19th-century synagogues in Europe Jewish organizations established in 1842 Orthodox synagogues in Ukraine Romanesque Revival architecture in Ukraine Rundbogenstil synagogues Synagogues completed in 1865

History

Architecture

Gallery

See also

References

External links