Great Synagogue (Pinsk)
The Great Synagogue in Pinsk , a Belarusian city in Breszkaya Woblasz , was one of the largest and oldest synagogues in the Polish-Lithuanian aristocratic republic . It was badly damaged in World War II and finally demolished in the 1950s.
history
The synagogue was built in 1640. It was probably affected by the wars of the second half of the 17th century and the beginning of the 18th century. What is certain is that changes were made to the building during construction work in the first half of the 18th century.
A roof that was originally hidden behind an attic was eventually replaced by a gable roof. After a fire in 1921, a roof of the original shape was restored.
In the Second World War it was initially infected and partially torn down. The remaining walls were removed after the war.
architecture
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The synagogue consisted of the men's prayer room (the 21 × 18 m main hall). This was several steps lower than the surrounding parts of the building and was 10.5 m high at the highest point. At the corner in the northwest a semicircular tower was integrated with a spiral staircase that led to the attic. Smaller parts of the building leaned on three sides: in the west the vestibule and in the north and south the prayer rooms for the women, which had direct entrances from the outside. A two-storey pavilion was built in the southwest. Except for this, the building made a uniform overall impression, so that it can be assumed that, apart from the corner pavilion, the parts were built at the same time.
The main building had two high arched windows in the east and an oculus in between, and three high arched windows on each of the other sides. From the women's rooms there was a row of smaller windows facing the hall.
The door from the vestibule to the prayer room was in the middle of the west wall, while the outside was accessed through two doors offset to the side. This arrangement of doors was common in many synagogues in the area in the 18th century and served to prevent unauthorized persons from looking into the prayer room.
The vault was supported in the middle by a supporting bima , which made it possible to span such a large space. The entire construction of the bima gave the impression of a small chapel.
The multi-tiered Torah shrine in turn gave the impression of an altar or triumphal arch. It stood in the middle of the east wall below the round window (oculus). Changes were probably made to it during the renovations after the 1921 fire.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Maria and Kazimierz Piechotka: Heaven's Gates. Masonry synagogues in the territories of the former Polish - Lithuania Commonwealth. Page 220 ff. Polish Institute of World Art Studies & POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw 2017, ISBN 978-83-942344-3-0 . Detailed description.
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