A fortress synagogue is a synagogue built to withstand attack while protecting the lives of people sheltering within it. Fortress synagogues first appeared in the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi- confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Poland and Lithuania ...

in the 16th century at a time of frequent invasions from the east by Ottoman,

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and Wallachian troops.''Historic Cities and Sacred Sites: Cultural Roots for Urban Futures''. By Ismail Serageldin, Ephim Shluger, Joan Martin-Brown, World Bank Publications, 2001, pp. 307-8. The Old Synagogue, Przemyśl is a typical example. The region also had

fortified church A fortified church is a church that is built to serve a defensive role in times of war. Such churches were specially designed to incorporate military features, such as thick walls, battlements, and embrasures. Others, such as the Ávila Cathedr ...

es, of which St. Andrew's Church, Kraków is a surviving example. The Old Synagogue, Kraków, a rare surviving fortress synagogue, was rebuilt in 1570 with an attic wall featuring

loopholes A loophole is an ambiguity or inadequacy in a system, such as a law or security, which can be used to circumvent or otherwise avoid the purpose, implied or explicitly stated, of the system. Originally, the word meant an arrowslit, a narrow ver ...

and windows placed far above ground level, features borrowed from military architecture. It has been altered many times since. Walls were thick masonry, with heavy buttressing to withstand assault. Like other fortifications, the synagogues were often built on hills.''Erased: Vanishing Traces of Jewish Galicia in Present-day Ukraine''. By Omer Bartov, Princeton University Press, 2007, p. 105 ff. The Husiatyn Synagogue is another example of a surviving, 16th-century fortress synagogue.

References

{{reflist Architecture in Poland Architecture in Ukraine Ashkenazi Jews topics

See also

References