Sarajevo Synagogue, Ashkenazi synagogue in Stari Grad, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Sarajevo Synagogue is an Ashkenazi synagogue in Stari Grad built with Moorish Revival style, featuring large arches and painted ornaments throughout. The interior spans two floors with an elevated decorated ceiling and architectural details that draw the eye upward.
Built in 1902 by architect Karel Parik during the Austro-Hungarian period, the building became the only functioning Jewish house of worship in Sarajevo today. Its construction marked an important moment for the growing Jewish population of the city at that time.
The congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite, and the building is the only functioning synagogue in Sarajevo today. Since 1964 the main prayer room has occupied the upper level, formerly the women's galleries, while the ground floor hosts weddings and bar and bat mitzvahs. Next door stands the New Synagogue, now an art gallery owned by the Jewish community.
The synagogue stands on the left bank of the Miljacka, close to the Latin Bridge and the Drvenija bridge, in Sarajevo's Stari Grad. The prayer room was moved to the upper floor in 1964, while the ground floor now hosts weddings and bar and bar mitzvahs. The building was renovated in the 2000s.
A stone menorah at the entrance marks four centuries of Jewish presence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, greeting visitors as they arrive. Inside, a ten-pointed star pattern decorates the ceiling, showing the careful craftsmanship that went into the original construction.
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