Rumbach Street synagogue, Moorish Revival synagogue in Budapest District VII, Hungary
Rumbach Street Synagogue is a house of worship in Budapest's seventh district featuring an eight-sided design with several domes and ornate Islamic-inspired patterns adorning both its exterior and interior surfaces. Upon entering, the colorful decorations that cover the walls and vaults create a bright, detailed visual impression throughout the space.
Construction began on 1 May 1870 and the synagogue was consecrated on 1 October 1872, built to designs by the Viennese architect Otto Wagner, with Felix Buzzi as the master builder in charge of works. It was raised for the Status Quo congregation, the more conservative fraction that emerged from the Schism in Hungarian Jewry of 1869. A memorial plaque on the wall recalls the Jews gathered in the building in 1941 before their deportation to Kamianets-Podilskyi.
The synagogue is also known as the "Small Synagogue", as opposed to the "Great Synagogue" on Dohány Street. A Hungarian-language memorial plaque on its wall commemorates the Jews gathered in the building in 1941 before their deportation to Kamianets-Podilskyi. Since its 2021 renovation it has hosted plays, concerts, photo exhibitions and other cultural events, and it also serves as a Jewish museum.
The synagogue stands at Rumbach Sebestyén utca 11–13 in District VII, within the so-called synagogue triangle near Dohány Street. It reopened to visitors in 2006 and was fully restored by June 2021, when it began serving as a concert hall and Jewish museum. Look for the Hungarian memorial plaque on the wall commemorating Jews gathered here in 1941.
The synagogue was built as an homage to the octagonal, domed Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem rather than as a copy of it. Its eight-sided plan and domed corner towers echo that shrine, and the interior was covered in red, blue and gold stucco restored by Kornél Baliga's team.
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