The Łańcut Synagogue is a Baroque synagogue in Łańcut, Poland. The Łańcut Synagogue is a rare surviving example of the vaulted synagogues with a bimah-tower,[1] that were built throughout the Polish lands in masonry from the sixteenth through the early nineteenth centuries.
| Łańcut Synagogue | |
|---|---|
 Interior with a central Bimah | |
 | |
| General information | |
| Architectural style | Baroque |
| Town or city | Łańcut |
| Country | Poland |
| Completed | 1761 |
| Client | Stanisław Lubomirski |
History edit
The synagogue was built in 1761, on the site of an earlier wooden synagogue which was destroyed by fire in 1733. Its construction was financed by Prince Stanisław Lubomirski.[2][3] It was renovated in 1896 and 1910. In September 1939, the building was set on fire by the invading German Army, however, the building was saved from total destruction by Count Alfred Antoni Potocki and converted into a granary. After the war, the synagogue came into the ownership of the local council, and was occasionally used as an exhibition space. It became a Judaica museum in 1981. The building was superficially renovated in the 1960s, and again more thoroughly from 1983-1990.[4][5]
Architecture edit
The synagogue is a simple Baroque, masonry building with a vestibule and side room, main hall and a women's balcony above the vestibule reached by an exterior staircase.[6] The windows of the main hall are unusually large for a Polish synagogue; Krinsky believes that this may reflect the security of the Jews in Łańcut, who lived under the protection of the landowning family.[6] The synagogue is built with eight, barrel-vaulted bays around a central Bimah, the four, massive, masonry pillars of which support the ceiling and roof. Painted, decorative plasterwork adorns the pillar capitals, ceiling, and walls. The floor in the restored building is made of concrete.[6] The walls are decorated reproductions of the pre-war paintings. The original paintings were created in the 18th century, with more being added around 1900. They feature traditional Jewish subjects, such as Noah and the Ark, symbols of the Zodiac, and images of musical instruments mentioned in the Book of Psalms.[7][8]
Images edit
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Exterior -
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Animal and landscape wall decoration of women's section -
Ornate frescoes with Hebrew texts
References edit
- ^ Maria and Kazimierz Piechotka: Heaven’s Gates. Masonry synagogues in the territories of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Page 430. Polish Institute of World Art Studies & POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw 2017, ISBN 978-83-949149-5-0.
- ^ "Synagogue in Łańcut - Jewish traces in the District of Łańcut, south-eastern Poland". District of Łańcut. 2017-05-17. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "History | Virtual Shtetl". sztetl.org.pl. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ "Łańcut - guidebook - Shtetl Routes - NN Theatre". shtetlroutes.eu. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
- ^ Migalska, Kinga (December 2019). "The Question of Appropriateness. Museums Established in Synagogues in Communist Poland: The Cases of Łańcut and Włodawa". Arts. 8 (4): 167. doi:10.3390/arts8040167. ISSN 2076-0752.
- ^ a b c Carol Herselle Krinsky, Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning, 1985, 1996, p. 209–211 ff, ISBN 978-0486290782
- ^ http://cja.huji.ac.il/Index_pres/Noah/Lancut-Subject.htm[dead link]
- ^ Carol Herselle Krinsky, Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning, 1985, 1996, p. 209–211, ISBN 978-0486290782.
External links edit
- (in English) Jewish Memorials in Eastern Poland