Łańcut Synagogue

The Łańcut Synagogue is a Baroque synagogue in Łańcut, Poland. The Łańcut Synagogue is a rare surviving example of the vaulted synagogues with a bimah-tower,[1] that were built throughout the Polish lands in masonry from the sixteenth through the early nineteenth centuries.

Łańcut Synagogue
Interior with a central Bimah
General information
Architectural styleBaroque
Town or cityŁańcut
CountryPoland
Completed1761
ClientStanisław Lubomirski

The synagogue was renovated in the mid-20th century, and underwent renovations in the years 1983-1990.

Architecture

The synagogue is a simple Baroque, masonry building with a vestibule and side room, main hall and a women's balcony above the vestibule reached by an exterior staircase.[2] The windows of the main hall are unusually large for a Polish synagogue; Krinsky believes that this may reflect the security of the Jews in Łańcut, who lived under the protection of the landowning family.[2] The synagogue is built with eight, barrel-vaulted bays around a central Bimah, the four, massive, masonry pillars of which support the ceiling and roof. Painted, decorative plasterwork adorns the pillar capitals, ceiling, and walls. The floor in the restored building is made of concrete.[2] The walls are decorated reproductions of the pre-war paintings. They feature traditional Jewish subjects, such as Noah and the Ark, symbols of the Zodiac, and images of musical instruments mentioned in the Book of Psalms.[3][4]

Images
  • Exterior
  • Stucco decorations of Bimah
  • Animal and landscape wall decoration of women's section
  • Ornate frescoes with Hebrew texts

References
  1. Maria and Kazimierz Piechotka: Heaven’s Gates. Masonry synagogues in the territories of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Page 430. Polish Institute of World Art Studies & POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw 2017, ISBN 978-83-949149-5-0.
  2. Carol Herselle Krinsky, Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning, 1985, 1996, p. 209–211 ff, ISBN 978-0486290782
  3. http://cja.huji.ac.il/Index_pres/Noah/Lancut-Subject.htm%5B%5D
  4. Carol Herselle Krinsky, Synagogues of Europe: Architecture, History, Meaning, 1985, 1996, p. 209–211, ISBN 978-0486290782.

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