The Choral Synagogue in

Drohobych Drohobych ( uk, Дрого́бич, ; pl, Drohobycz; yi, דראָהאָביטש;) is a city of regional significance in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban hro ...

Lviv Oblast Lviv Oblast ( uk, Льві́вська о́бласть, translit=Lvivska oblast, ), also referred to as Lvivshchyna ( uk, Льві́вщина, ), ). The name of each oblast is a wikt:Appendix:Glossary#relational, relational adjective—in Englis ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, is the most impressive of the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

structures in the town.

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, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. After World War II Drohobych belonged to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The authorities converted the building to a warehouse and altered it accordingly. In later years it deteriorated. After Ukraine gained its independence it was returned to the Jewish community. Renovation started in 2014. It was completed in 2018.

Architecture

Brockhaus and Efron Jewish Encyclopedia e7 345-0

The style of the three-story building is a variant of the then-popular Round-arch style. The entry is framed by massive

pilaster In classical architecture Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the ...

s, surmounted by a decorated gable. Two windows are placed above it vertically. A larger gable, crowned by the

tablets of the law Tablet may refer to: Medicine * Tablet (pharmacy), a mixture of pharmacological substances pressed into a small cake or bar, colloquially called a "pill" Computing * Tablet computer, a mobile computer that is primarily operated by touching the s ...

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 facade 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 facades, though on the N and S facades the three vertical windows are replaced by a three-story tall, round-headed window, and on the E facade, backing the

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

, the centre window of the three is round. The two outer bays of the facade 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 in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

and the

Great Maharsha Synagogue The Great Maharsha Synagogue () was a synagogue in Ostroh, named after Rabbi Shmuel Eidels. It was built after 1627 under a restriction "prohibiting the erection of synagogues taller than churches." The synagogue was damaged during the Khmelnyts ...

Ostroh Ostroh ( uk, Остро́г; pl, Ostróg) is a historic city located in Rivne Oblast (province) of western Ukraine, on the Horyn River. Ostroh is the administrative center of the Ostroh Raion (district). Administratively, Ostroh is incorporated ...

. That is four supports 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.http://cja.huji.ac.il/Home_Page/Drohobych.pdf Page 32 ff. Complete information about the building (architecture). Last retrieved April 11, 2021.

References

External links

Choral-Synagoge in Drohobytsch, polish
in

Virtual Shtetl The Virtual Shtetl ( pl, Wirtualny Sztetl) is a bilingual Polish-English portal of the Museum of the History of Polish Jews in Warsaw, devoted to the Jewish history of Poland. History The Virtual Shtetl website was officially launched on June 1 ...

{{coord, 49.35336, 23.51132, format=dms, type:landmark_region:UA, display=title Synagogues in Ukraine Synagogues completed in 1865 Rundbogenstil synagogues 1842 establishments in the Austrian Empire Orthodox synagogues in Ukraine

History

Architecture

See also

References

External links