The Sofia Synagogue ( bg, Софийска синагога, ''Sofiyska sinagoga'') is the largest
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 ...
in
Southeastern Europe
Southeast Europe or Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a geographical subregion of Europe, consisting primarily of the Balkans. Sovereign states and territories that are included in the region are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia (al ...
, one of two functioning in
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...
(with the other one in
Plovdiv
Plovdiv ( bg, Пловдив, ), is the second-largest city in Bulgaria, standing on the banks of the Maritsa river in the historical region of Thrace. It has a population of 346,893 and 675,000 in the greater metropolitan area. Plovdiv is the c ...
) and the third-largest in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
.
100-годишнина на синагогата в София
dnes.bg, September 6, 2009
Constructed for the needs of the Bulgarian capital Sofia
Sofia ( ; bg, София, Sofiya, ) is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain in the western parts of the country. The city is built west of the Iskar river, and ha ...
's mainly Sephardic
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 ), ...
Jew
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""Th ...
ish community after a project by the Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
n architect Friedrich Grünanger
Friedrich Grünanger (25 January 1856 – 14 December 1929) was a Transylvanian Austrian architect who worked primarily in Bulgaria.
Born in Schäßburg in Austria-Hungary (today Sighişoara in Romania), Grünanger studied at the Academy of Fi ...
, it resembles the old Moorish Leopoldstädter Tempel
The Leopoldstädter Tempel was the largest synagogue of Vienna, in the district (Bezirk) of Leopoldstadt. It was also known as the Israelitische Bethaus in der Wiener Vorstadt Leopoldstadt. It was built in 1858 in a Moorish Revival style by the ...
in Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
and was officially opened on 9 September 1909 in the presence of Tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
Ferdinand I of Bulgaria
, image = Zar Ferdinand Bulgarien.jpg
, caption = Ferdinand in 1912
, reign = 5 October 1908 –
, coronation =
, succession = Tsar of Bulgaria
, predecessor = Himself as Prince
, successor = Boris III
, rei ...
. The first preparations for the synagogue's construction date to 1903, while the construction itself had begun on 13 November 1905. The construction of a grand new synagogue was part of the reorganization efforts of the Bulgarian Jewish community under Lemberg
Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...
-born Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi ( he, רב ראשי ''Rav Rashi'') is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a ...
Marcus Ehrenpreis and local leaders Ezra Tadjer and Avram Davidjon Levy. Prior to the construction of the new synagogue, the lot in central Sofia had been occupied by an older synagogue.
One of the architectural monuments of Sofia, the synagogue, located in the very centre of the city near the Central Market Hall, can accommodate 1,300 worshippers. The Sofia Synagogue's main chandelier
A chandelier (; also known as girandole, candelabra lamp, or least commonly suspended lights) is a branched ornamental light fixture designed to be mounted on ceilings or walls. Chandeliers are often ornate, and normally use incandescent li ...
weighs 1.7 ton
Ton is the name of any one of several units of measure. It has a long history and has acquired several meanings and uses.
Mainly it describes units of weight. Confusion can arise because ''ton'' can mean
* the long ton, which is 2,240 pounds
...
s and is the largest in the country.
Despite the building's size, the services
Service may refer to:
Activities
* Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty
* Civil service, the body of employees of a government
* Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...
are normally only attended by some 50 to 60 worshippers due to the ''aliyah
Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...
'' of most of Bulgaria's Jews to Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
and the secularity
Secularity, also the secular or secularness (from Latin ''saeculum'', "worldly" or "of a generation"), is the state of being unrelated or neutral in regards to religion. Anything that does not have an explicit reference to religion, either negativ ...
of the local Jewish population.
The architectural style is essentially Moorish Revival
Moorish Revival or Neo-Moorish is one of the exotic revival architectural styles that were adopted by architects of Europe and the Americas in the wake of Romanticist Orientalism. It reached the height of its popularity after the mid-19th centur ...
, with elements of the Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession (german: Wiener Secession; also known as ''the Union of Austrian Artists'', or ''Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreichs'') is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austr ...
and, in the facade, Venetian architecture. The main premise has a diameter of 20 m and is 31 m high. It is topped by an octagonal dome. The interior is richly decorated, featuring columns of Carrara
Carrara ( , ; , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, in central Italy, of the province of Massa and Carrara, and notable for the white or blue-grey marble quarried there. It is on the Carrione River, some Boxing the compass, west-northwest o ...
marble and multicoloured Venetian mosaics, as well as decorative woodcarving. The entire building takes up 659 m². The biggest chandelier in the Balkans is there and the rumor said it is made from gold from Ancient Palestine.
Since 8 May 1992 the Sofia Synagogue also houses the Jewish Museum of History, which includes the Jewish Communities in Bulgaria, the Holocaust and the Rescue of the Jews in Bulgaria expositions. A souvenir shop is also in operation.
File:20190521 Bulgaria 6507 Sofia sRGB (48656042743).jpg
File:2008 0330test0252.JPG
File:Central Synagouge in Sofia.jpg
File:Sofia Synagogue snow.jpg
See also
*History of the Jews in Bulgaria
The history of the Jews in Bulgaria goes back almost 2,000 years. Jews have had a continuous presence in historic Bulgarian lands across the Danube, Bulgarian lands since before the 2nd century CE, and have often played an important part in ...
References
External links
Sofia Synagogue website
English Podcast interview with Yulina Mihaylova of the Jewish Museum of History at the Sofia Synagogue
{{Authority control
Synagogues completed in 1909
Romaniote synagogues
Sephardi synagogues
Synagogues in Bulgaria
Moorish Revival architecture in Bulgaria
Buildings and structures in Sofia
Jewish museums
Religious museums in Bulgaria
Museums in Sofia
Sephardi Jewish culture in Bulgaria
Moorish Revival synagogues
Synagogue buildings with domes