Oni Synagogue, Moorish-style synagogue in Oni, Georgia.
The synagogue in Oni is a limestone building with Moorish architectural features that dates from the late 1800s. It has a square layout topped by a prominent dome and decorated with Hebrew inscriptions and Stars of David throughout its facade.
The Oni Synagogue was built in 1895 in an eclectic Moorish Revival style, the third largest synagogue in Georgia after those of Tbilisi and Kutaisi. The 1991 Racha earthquake severely damaged it; four years later it was renovated with support from the government and the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and President Eduard Shevardnadze attended the re-dedication. On 2 September 2015 the congregation marked its 120th anniversary, with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili present.
The synagogue is named for Oni, the Racha town where it stands. Its congregation numbered 3,150 in 1972 but only 16 by 2015, after most Georgian Jews moved to Israel in the 1970s and 1990s. Rabbi David Baazov, a leading Zionist, and his son Gerzel, a writer and activist, were notable members.
The synagogue stands at 53 Vakhtang VI Street in Oni, in the Racha region. It is inactive and normally closed, so visits depend on arranging access in advance rather than on opening hours. The building was renovated after the 1991 Racha earthquake, which severely damaged it.
In 1972 the synagogue counted 3,150 congregants; by its 120th-anniversary ceremony on September 2, 2015, attended by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, only 16 remained. Rabbi David Baazov, a leading Zionist, and his son Gerzel Baazov, a writer and activist, were members of the congregation.
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