Synagogue in Český Krumlov, Romanesque Revival synagogue in Plešivec, Czech Republic.
The Synagogue in Český Krumlov is a single-nave building with a saddle roof and an octagonal tower, built in 1908–1909 in Romanesque Revival style with Art Nouveau elements. Its west facade holds the entrance, and the interior vault is painted blue, with the bimah moved toward the east wall and the aron ha-kodesh beneath a large rose window with a Star of David in stained glass.
Construction was completed in 1909 under architect Victor Kafka and marked an end to restrictions on Jewish life that had lasted for centuries in the city. After World War II, the building changed its religious use several times, serving different faith communities over the following decades.
The building is now a cultural space with a bookshop and the Café Synagoga, which also seats guests in its garden in summer. A permanent exhibition room is dedicated to the Spiro family, the paper industrialists whose fund made the construction possible.
The former synagogue now houses a bookshop and the Café Synagoga, which in summer also seats guests in the garden. A permanent exhibition room is devoted to the Spiro family. The building stands in the southern suburb on Plešivec hill, with the entrance at the western façade.
The synagogue was the first building in Austria-Hungary constructed with a reinforced concrete frame, a technical first noted for a house of worship. Its octagonal tower rises above the Plešivec hill, and the site covers 883 m², of which the building itself occupies 505 m².
The community of curious travelers
AroundUs brings together thousands of curated places, local tips, and hidden gems, enriched daily by 94,460 contributors worldwide.