The Tempel Synagogue (

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, w ...

: ''Synagoga Tempel'') is a synagogue in

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 1596 ...

, Poland, in the

Kazimierz Kazimierz (; la, Casimiria; yi, קוזמיר, Kuzimyr) is a historical district of Kraków and Kraków Old Town, Poland. From its inception in the 14th century to the early 19th century, Kazimierz was an independent city, a royal city of the ...

district. Tempel Synagogue is not only a major place of worship, but also a booming center of Jewish culture, which hosts numerous concerts and meetings, especially during the

Festival A festival is an event ordinarily celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, mela, or eid. A festival c ...

Overview

The

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 ...

building was designed by Ignacy Hercok, and built in 1860–1862 along Miodowa Street. The temple, with its tall central section flanked by lower wings, is designed on the pattern of the

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, Austria. At the time the synagogue was built, Kraków was part of 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 ...

. The richly finished interior is adorned with dense patterns painted in many colors and copious amounts of gold leaf, but the patterns, with the exception of the exquisite Moorish design on the ceiling, are not stylistically Moorish. The arch over the

Aron Kodesh 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 h ...

with its pattern of alternating tall and short houses is more in the style of Polish folk art than anything Islamic. The Aron Kodesh is covered by a gold-leaf dome that evokes the dome over the

Sigismund Chapel Sigismund's Chapel ( pl, kaplica Zygmuntowska) is a royal chapel of the Wawel Cathedral in Kraków, Poland. Built as a funerary chapel for the last members of the Jagiellonian Dynasty, it has been hailed by many art historians as "the most beautifu ...

in the nearby

Wawel Cathedral The Wawel Cathedral ( pl, Katedra Wawelska), formally titled the Royal Archcathedral Basilica of Saints Stanislaus and Wenceslaus, is a Roman Catholic cathedral situated on Wawel Hill in Kraków, Poland. Nearly 1000 years old, it is part of the ...

. The synagogue was ruined during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

by the

German Nazi Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

s, who used the building as ammunition storage area. After the war, it was used again for prayers. In 1947, a ''

mikvah Mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvoth'', ''mikvot'', or (Yiddish) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve ritual purity. Most forms of ritual impurity can be purifi ...

'' was built in the northern part of the synagogue. Regular prayers were held until 1985. A large inflow of financial contributions from private donors around the world allowed the synagogue to undergo a vast renovation from 1995 until 2000. It is still active today, although formal prayers are held only a few times a year.

Gallery

File:Krakow Synagoga Tempel 20071111 1123 2077.jpg, File:Tempel Synagogue Interior.jpg, File:Tempel Synagogue in Kraków 2.jpg, File:Krakow Synagoga Tempel 20071111 1141 2144.jpg, File:01238Kraków.JPG,

External links

www.JewishKrakow.net
- a guide to the Tempel Synagogue as well as Kazimierz in general, Kraków's Jewish quarter
The Jewish Community of Krakow
Synagogues completed in 1862 Moorish Revival synagogues Synagogues in Kraków 1862 establishments in the Austrian Empire Holocaust locations in Poland Religious organizations established in 1862 {{Poland-synagogue-stub

Overview

Gallery

See also

External links