Kutaisi Synagogue, Jewish synagogue on Boris Gaponov Street, Kutaisi, Georgia.
Kutaisi Synagogue is a stone building with Romanesque Revival style located on Boris Gaponov Street in the heart of the city. The interior features restored frescoes that give glimpses of its original decoration, and the structure occupies the adjacent numbers 57-59 on the street.
The stone synagogue was built over ten years with funding from Kutaisi's local Jewish community and was consecrated on 14 May 1887. It is one of three synagogues in the historic Jewish quarter on the left bank of the Rion, alongside the Small Synagogue of 1815 and the Great Synagogue of 1886. From its opening it served as a centre of religious and cultural life, with a nearby annex where Hebrew was taught and matzah was baked for ritual use.
This prayer house serves the local Jewish community for worship and the practice of their faith traditions. Walking past it, you notice how it anchors a neighborhood where several houses of worship stand close together, reflecting the religious diversity of the city.
The synagogue stands at 57–59 Boris Gaponov Street, on the left bank of the Rion, in the historic Jewish quarter where the Small and Great Synagogues are at numbers 10 and 8 of the same street. The building is still in active use, so time your visit around services rather than treating it as a monument open all day.
The street where this building stands is named after a scholar who translated Georgia's famous epic poem into Hebrew. This unusual connection shows how deeply Jewish and Georgian cultural traditions were woven together in this city.
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