Great Synagogue (Iași)

The Great Synagogue of Iași (Romanian: Sinagoga Mare din Iași) is a Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 1 Sinagogilor Street, in Iași, in the Iași County, of Western Moldavia, Romania. The synagogue was completed in 1671 in the Baroque style,^[1] and it is the oldest surviving synagogue in Romania.^[4]

The synagogue is listed on the National Register of Historic Monuments^[2][5] and in 2014 was included on the watchlist of World Monuments Fund.^[3]

Raised in 1671, the Great Synagogue is a free standing building adjacent to a small garden off Cucu Street (once called Sinagogilor Street for the many synagogues located on it) just north of the city center in the old Jewish neighbourhood of Târgu Cucului. The synagogue underwent major renovations in 1761, 1822 and 1864. It was partly restored in the 1970s and a major restoration took place between 2006 and 2018.^[3][6][7] The Women's Gallery houses a small museum of the Jewish community of Iași.

The building has round-arched windows, and two wings. One wing is two stories high and capped by a barrel-vaulted ceiling. The other is a tall, single-story hall with a 9.8-metre (32 ft) diameter dome capped with a lantern. The dome was added to the building in the early 20th century.^[8]

Of the more than 110 synagogues in Iași before World War II, the Great Synagogue is one of only two which continues to serve the dwindling Jewish community of Iași, following the Holocaust.^[9]

1. ^ ^{a b} "Great Synagogue in Iaşi". Historic Synagogues of Europe. Foundation for Jewish Heritage and the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. n.d. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
2. ^ ^{a b} "Lista Monumentelor Istorice 2015: Județol Iași" (PDF). Ministerul Culturii (in Romanian). Guvernul României. 2018. p. 1718. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
3. ^ ^{a b c} "Great Synagogue of Iaşi". World Monuments Watch: Completed project. World Monuments Fund. 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
4. ^ Gruber, Samuel (May 31, 2010). "Romania: Iași Synagogue in Restoration". Jewish Art & Monuments.
5. ^ "The Romanian Register of Historical Monuments" (PDF). 2010. p. 1616. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 1, 2011.
6. ^ Gruber, Ruth Elen (May 20, 2010). "Romania: Historic synagogue in Iaşi under restoration". Jewish Heritage Travel. Retrieved July 11, 2011.
7. ^ "Sinagoga Mare s-a redeschis aseară, după mai bine de 10 ani de restaurări". ziaruldeiasi (in Romanian). December 4, 2018.
8. ^ Streja, Aristide; Schwarz, Lucian; Hasefer, Editura (1997). Synagogues of Romania. p. 111.
9. ^ Svart-Kara, Itic (1997). "Contributions to the History of Jews in Iaşi". JewishGen. Bucharest. pp. 65–88. Retrieved July 11, 2011.

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