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Great Synagogue
Zsinagoga
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Budapest’s Great Synagogue represents one of the most historical and architecturally-significant distinguishable landmarks of the capital.
It is the second largest synagogue in the world.
Budapest’s grand Jewish temple was built between 1854 and 1859.
The synagogue is basically Moorish in style, with two tall towers that make it easily recognizable throughout the Pest section of the city. We could also find some Gothic, Byzantine and Romantic elements in the architecture of the Great Synagogue.
The building is 53 meters long and about half as wide. It contains 2,964 seats (1,492 for men and 1,472 in the upper women's galleries), making it the second largest Jewish synagogue in the world after New York City’s Temple Emanu-El.
Inside the Synagogue
The interior of the synagogue was designed by Frigyes Feszl and is quite colorful and ornate. In the interior Great Synagogue represents the home of a sumptuous pipe organ, more often found in Christian churches than in Jewish temples. This grand organ contains about 5,000 pipes and was built in 1859. Great composers, such as Franz Liszt and Camille Saint-Saëns, were known to have enjoyed playing this instrument and today it is often used for concerts.
The structure was heavily damaged during the war as well and was restored in the 1990s, after the fall of the iron curtain.
Outside the Synagogue
Budapest Great Synagogue has witnessed tragic events in World War II. The Germans established a ghetto for the Jews in 1944 that served as a gathering place for deportation. Behind the main building stands the Heroes' Temple, that was built in 1929-31 to commmemorate the Jews who died in the First World War.
A restoration of the Budapest Great Synagogue was finished not long ago, funded partly by a foundation set up by Tony Curtis who has Hungarian roots.
The adjacent Jewish Museum (on the left of the synagogue) has a Holocaust memorial room and and displays about the Jewish culture. The museum has the same opening hours than the synagogue.
source: www.aviewoncities.com
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