Wielka Synagoga
Historic site · Piotrków Trybunalski · Łódź
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Built in 1791-1793 to a design by architect Dawid Friedlander, this synagogue is one of the best-preserved in Poland. Napoleon's marshal Louis Nicolas Davout visited in 1813, and Tsar Alexander I in 1821. Vandalized by Russian troops in 1854, it was restored with Moorish-style elements, then devastated again by German occupiers in the Second World War. It now serves as the temporary seat of the State Archive in Piotrków Trybunalski.
Before renovation reworked the interior, the sanctuary ceiling carried a rococo painting of heavenly bodies and constellations that seemed to drift across the space. The eastern wall was gilded, showing the Ten Commandments flanked by two lions holding a golden crown, alongside carved replicas of the musical instruments the Levites played in the Temple in Jerusalem. Immense brass chandeliers hung from the ceiling, lit only on holidays. The congregation built on the site of an earlier wooden synagogue raised in 1689 that burned down around 1740, and the wealthy merchant Moshe Kocyn funded the brick building that replaced it. After the war the building served briefly as a sports hall and then a workers' cooperative before the city converted it into its public library in 1964-1967. The library moved out in 2019.
What you see
Corner towers, crenellated and arcaded friezes, and diamond-latticed windows in an Arabic-inspired pattern give the brick facade an oriental profile uncommon among Polish synagogues; the west front carries two more towers added when it was pushed five metres forward after 1868.
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Climbs, views & nature nearby
History & landmarks nearby
Common questions
- Why stop at Wielka Synagoga on a bike ride?
- Built in 1791-1793 to a design by architect Dawid Friedlander, this synagogue is one of the best-preserved in Poland. Napoleon's marshal Louis Nicolas Davout visited in 1813, and Tsar Alexander I in 1821. Vandalized by Russian troops in 1854, it was restored with Moorish-style elements, then devastated again by German occupiers in the Second World War. It now serves as the temporary seat of the State Archive in Piotrków Trybunalski.
- Where is Wielka Synagoga?
- Wielka Synagoga is in Piotrków Trybunalski, Łódź (Poland).