Great Choral Synagogue description and photos - Russia - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg (Topic)

Great Choral Synagogue description and photo - Russia - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg. Detailed information about the attraction. Description, photos and a map showing the nearest significant objects.

Photo and description

The Great Choral Synagogue is located in St. Petersburg and is an architectural monument of national importance. The synagogue on Lermontovsky Prospekt is the center of the spiritual life of the Jewish religious community in the Northern capital. Here Jews perform religious rituals, celebrate holidays and just communicate. It is the second largest in Europe.

The Jewish community played an important role in the development of Russia and the formation of St. Petersburg. Despite the fact that by the order of Catherine I Jews were forbidden to live both in St. Petersburg and in Russia in general, they still came for a short time. During the reign of Catherine II, some Jews were allowed to live in St. Petersburg in the interests of the Russian state, but the decree banning the arrival of Jews in the capital continued to operate.

After the partition of Poland by Russia, huge territories were obtained, inhabited by Belarusians, Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians and, among other things, Jews. Therefore, at the end of the 18th century. Jews began to appear more often in St. Petersburg. At the same time, the first Jewish community in St. Petersburg began to form; a prominent businessman Abram Peretz was its main representative.

In the 19th century, the Jewish community of St. Petersburg included approximately 10 thousand believers. She had several small chapels throughout the city, but this was not enough to fully meet the religious needs of the faithful. In this regard, it was decided to start building a synagogue.

The site has been searched for for a decade. On January 16, 1879, the Jewish community acquired the house and plot of Rostovsky A.A. at the Big Workshop. In the summer of the same year, a competition was announced for a project to build a synagogue. The project was carried out by the architect L.I. Bachman and I.I. Shaposhnikov with the participation of N.L. Benois and V.V. Stasov.

In May 1883, Alexander II approved the draft design of the future synagogue. A.A. Kaufman headed the construction committee, and A.V. Malov with assistants S.O. Klein and B.I. Girshovich. Since 1884, the construction was supervised by N.L. Benois, and S.S. Polyakov was the chairman of the Committee. The main sponsors of the construction work were the first chairman of the Jewish community of St. Petersburg, Baron Horace Gunzburg and the famous philanthropist Polyakov. In their honor, memorial sites were set up in the main hall of the synagogue.

In October 1886, the Small Synagogue was consecrated; before the opening of the Great Hall, the Temporary Synagogue was housed in it. The construction of the Great Synagogue was completed in 1888, but finishing work continued for about five more years. On December 8, 1893, the solemn consecration of the Great Synagogue took place.

The building of the Great Choral Synagogue is made in the oriental, rather Moorish style. Its center is decorated with a projection and a portal with paired columns in the form of an arch. The building is crowned with a spherical dome. The lobby of the Jewish temple has original acoustics - whispered words are heard at a distance of about 10 m. In the center of the lobby, the voice is amplified several times.

After the opening of the Great Choral Synagogue, all chapels in the city were closed, which led to certain difficulties in the administration of rituals, since the new building still could not accommodate all those in need. In 1909 g. a fence made of granite blocks was installed in front of the synagogue building instead of a dilapidated wooden fence.

In 1929, by order of the Leningrad City Council, the Jewish religious community was liquidated, and in January 1930 the synagogue was closed. However, already in June 1930, after the Jews complained to the Central Executive Committee, the synagogue was reopened.

Before the 1980 Olympic Games, which were also held in Leningrad, the Great Choral Synagogue was included in the main excursion sites, so funds were allocated for its reconstruction and repair.

Recently the facade of the synagogue was returned to its original terracotta red color. The main hall of the Jewish temple is decorated with an original chandelier, it has been restored and again covered with silver leaf. Initially it was gas, but later it was converted into an electric one.

There is a separate gallery for women, located on the second floor. During prayer, men and women are separated so that believers are not distracted from communion with God. There is a men's choir above the women's gallery.

We also recommend reading Cathedral Mosque description and photo - Russia - Ural: Magnitogorsk

Topic: Great Choral Synagogue description and photos - Russia - St. Petersburg: St. Petersburg.