The Hasidic Synagogue in Uzhhorod - one of the most beautiful in Europe

An amazing red building in the Neo-Moorish style, with a multitude of small decorative details, catches the eye of any tourist. This is the unique Hasidic Synagogue in Uzhhorod, which has a very interesting and at the same time very eventful century-long history. There are only a handful of such synagogues in Europe - which is why it is a special source of pride and an unrivalled architectural monument of all Ukraine.

The Hasidic Synagogue in Uzhhorod: a grand sacred project

A Jewish community has lived in Transcarpathia for more than 500 years. Historians have established that in the 18th century there were many synagogues, houses of prayer and Jewish educational and cultural centres here. At the same time, the town authorities allocated to the Jews a valuable plot of land on Nova Square (today - Fentsyk Square) for the construction of a synagogue which, according to the design of its masters - the Austro-Hungarian architects Gyula Papp and Ferenc Szabolcs - was to become a true artistic masterpiece.

And so it happened - back in 1904, in what was then Ungvár, a synagogue of unheard-of beauty appeared. It was built with the money of Jewish patrons in a grand Romantic style, interwoven with Byzantine and Arab-Moorish details and motifs. The building materials - pink marble, red ceramics, decorative brick and others - were specially brought from Italy. Most striking of all were the incredible Star of David, placed on the main balcony of the synagogue’s façade, and the magnificent roof with copper ornaments and shaped towers. Around a thousand Jews could pray here at the same time.

How the Hasidic Synagogue in Uzhhorod has changed

Hard times were endured by the Hasidic synagogue after the Second World War, when the Soviet Union began to persecute the Jewish people and to destroy absolutely everything: their monuments and their artistic, educational and cultural heritage. And while the Hasidic synagogue managed to survive the fascist devastation - before the liberation of Uzhhorod the German and Hungarian troops did little more than set up a stable here, whereas the Soviet authorities thoroughly “abused” the building, stripping away all the Jewish symbols.

For example, the tablets bearing the Ten Commandments of Moses, which stood on the roof of the synagogue, were cast down to the ground. All the Moorish decorative details were removed. The Star of David was walled up, leaving only a small window. In place of the ritual cabinet holding the Torah scrolls, a staircase to the first floor was built. The unique translucent dome with its mosaic on the roof was covered over with sheet metal, the wall paintings were painted over, leaving only the sumptuous decorations beneath the ceiling. Right beside the synagogue itself an ordinary “box” was added - the so-called new part of the building. This radical Soviet reconstruction significantly simplified the appearance of the synagogue and worsened its acoustics. Witnesses of those merciless events recount that the Jews wept as they watched their sanctuary being destroyed. At the time there was nothing they could do. The building was placed under the authority of the Ministry of Culture of the Ukrainian SSR.

Today no one prays in the synagogue - since Soviet times it has housed the philharmonic hall. Despite the removal of almost all the most beautiful decorations of Jewish symbolism, the former prayer centre of the Jews still impresses with its beauty, its delicate tracery and its elegance. Today it is the main concert hall in Uzhhorod . The Transcarpathian Regional Philharmonic has a hall seating 830, a stage and the best three-manual organ in Ukraine, with 2250 pipes, which was made in Czechoslovakia and installed here in 1974.

You can visit one of the largest and most beautiful synagogues in Europe - the synagogue in Uzhhorod - during an excursion around Uzhhorod.