The Rijeka Orthodox 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 synagogue
A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...
, located on Ivan Filipović Street, formerly Galvani Street (opposite the Faculty of Economics), in
Rijeka
Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...
in
Croatia. The synagogue was built in a
Rationalist style in 1931 (when Rijeka was part of
Italy). It is one of the very few synagogues in Croatian territory to have survived the destruction of the
Nazi period.
History
The small orthodox synagogue of Rijeka was completed in 1931 to meet the needs of the Orthodox Jews who were in the minority in Rijeka compared to the large Jewish community, which met in the majestic
Great Synagogue of Rijeka (built in 1903 and destroyed by the Nazis in 1944).
The project was entrusted to the architects Győzo Angyal and Pietro Fabbro. Together with the synagogue of Genoa, it is one of only two examples of a modern-style synagogue built in Italy during the
Fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
period.
The synagogue has a simple tripartite
façade with a central body in red brick and stone slabs with two doors (one of which under a portico leads directly to the
women's gallery
The Women's Gallery was a collectively established and run art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, showing only the work of women, that ran for four years between 1980 and 1984.
History
In 1977, artist Joanna Paul developed a project called " ...
) and two small windows with an ornamental reference to the
Star of David
The Star of David (). is a generally recognized symbol of both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles.
A derivation of the ''seal of Solomon'', which was used for decorative ...
. The interior has a single room with the raised balcony of the
women's gallery
The Women's Gallery was a collectively established and run art gallery in Wellington, New Zealand, showing only the work of women, that ran for four years between 1980 and 1984.
History
In 1977, artist Joanna Paul developed a project called " ...
overlooking the entrance.
The Italian-style marble tabernacle containing the holy ark with the books of the
Torah was a gift in 1934 from the Jews of
Trieste to the Fiuman confreres (until then it adorned the Schola grande in Piazza delle Scuole israelitiche in Trieste).
The Orthodox synagogue in Rijeka is one of the very few synagogues in Croatian territory that survived the destruction of the
Holocaust. The temple remained standing, because during the Nazi occupation it was used as an ammunition depot, while the large synagogue in Rijeka was destroyed on January 25, 1944. After the war, the small Orthodox synagogue was thus able to house the few surviving Rijeka Jews of that which until a few years earlier was a thriving community of over 2,000 members.
[ ]
The Orthodox synagogue became nationalized property on December 5, 1956. In 1996 it was declared a monument of historical and cultural interest of the city.
In 2005–2008 it underwent major restoration works.
The small Rijeka community (now reduced to a hundred members) uses it today for major holidays with the assistance of the neighboring communities of Trieste and
Zagreb.
See also
*
History of the Jews in Croatia
*
List of synagogues in Croatia
This list of synagogues in Croatia contains active, otherwise used and destroyed synagogues in Croatia. The list of Croatia synagogues is not necessarily complete, as only a negligible number of sources testify to the existence of some synagogues.
...
*
Rijeka (Croatia)
Gallery
File:Fiume - Sinagoga Ortodossa - Interno.jpg, Interior of the synagogue
File: Fiume - Sinagoga Ortodossa - Progetto approvato 1930-09-30.jpg, Project approval on 30 September 1930
References
Bibliography
*
{{Synagogues in Croatia
20th-century synagogues in Europe
Buildings and structures in Rijeka
Orthodox synagogues in Croatia
Modernist architecture in Croatia
Modernist synagogues
Synagogues completed in 1931
Register of Cultural Goods of the Republic of Croatia