Mittelalterliche Synagoge Köln, Medieval synagogue ruins in Old Town, Cologne, Germany
The Medieval Synagogue Cologne is an excavated Jewish house of worship in the Old Town, with foundations showing a two-story prayer hall that had separate sections for men and women. The remains lie beneath City Hall and can be visited in an underground exhibition space.
The Jewish community in Cologne is among the oldest north of the Alps, with roots going back to Roman times. The prayer house was rebuilt in Gothic style in the 13th century, until the community was expelled from the city in 1424.
The synagogue stood at the heart of a Jewish quarter that once occupied the area around what is now City Hall. Side rooms attached to the prayer hall were used for everyday community tasks, which shows how central this building was to daily life.
The underground exhibition space is located beneath City Hall and reached through a nearby entrance on the square. The spaces are narrow and the floors uneven, so sturdy footwear is a good idea.
Traces of wall paintings and decorative details are still visible on the excavated foundations, showing how carefully the interior was finished. Such traces of medieval decoration are rarely found in surviving synagogue remains north of the Alps.
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