Great Synagogue (Olyka)
The Great Synagogue in Olyka , a town in the Ukrainian Oblast of Volyn , was built in the late 19th century and destroyed during World War II.
history
A city map of Olyka from the last decade of the 18th century already shows a synagogue building. In two big city fires in 1803 and 1823 this was probably also damaged.
A painting by Napoleon Orda from 1874 shows a synagogue. Presumably this was also destroyed by fire shortly afterwards and replaced by the new Great Synagogue. A plaque with the year 1879 therefore probably indicates the year of completion.
After the German invasion of the Soviet Union , a ghetto was set up in the area. The residents were murdered on July 29, 1942. At that time the synagogue was still standing, but it did not survive the war.
architecture
The vestibule was in front of the almost square main hall in the west . Above this there was a gallery for the choir (which protruded somewhat into the main hall), and behind it (separated by a wall) the women's rooms. In front of it was a two-story gallery with the same height. Stairs to the right and left of the gallery led to the first floor and from there to the women's rooms. There were single-storey extensions along the side walls. The gallery was divided into seven fields on the lower level and four on the upper level by supporting beams.
The main hall had two pairs of windows in the south (and probably also in the north and east). Inside, the ceiling was supported by four wooden pillars that divided it into nine fields.
A two-tier hipped roof covered the entire building (main hall, vestibule, gallery). The roofs of the extensions in the south and north leaned against the walls of the synagogue building.
Interior
The bima was an octagonal podium with an open-topped dome that was surrounded by a balustrade . She stood between the pillars that supported the ceiling.
The Torah shrine was in the form of a cupboard protruding from the wall with columns and floral motifs on the side walls. Above were the tablets of the law . Blessing hands and birds of prey closed it at the top.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ [1] On the story (English). Retrieved June 14, 2020
- ↑ Maria and Kazimierz Piechotka: Heaven's Gates. Wooden synagogues in the territories of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. P. 451 ff. Polish Institute of World Art Studies & POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw 2015, ISBN 978-83-942048-6-0 . Pages 423, 424. Detailed description.
