in Marrakesh The styles of the earliest synagogues resembled the houses of worship of other faiths in the
Byzantine Empire, such as the
ancient synagogues in Palestine. Later styles continued this practice: synagogues of Morocco are embellished with
zellij, colored tilework characteristic of
Moroccan architecture. The surviving medieval synagogues in
Budapest,
Prague, and the German lands are typical of
Gothic architecture. For much of history, the constraints of
antisemitism and the laws of host countries restricting the building of synagogues visible from the street or forbidding their construction altogether meant that synagogues were often built within existing structures or opened from interior courtyards. Old synagogues with elaborate interior architecture can be hidden within nondescript European buildings and the
Islamic world. Where synagogues were permitted, they were built in the prevailing architectural style of the time and place. Many European cities had elaborate Renaissance synagogues, of which a few survive. In Italy, numerous synagogues were built in the style of Italian Renaissance architecture, including the
Old Synagogue of Livorno, the
Padua Synagogue, and the
Spanish Synagogue of Venice. With the coming of the
Baroque era, Baroque synagogues appeared across Europe. The
Jewish emancipation in
Europe and Muslim countries
colonized by European countries gave Jews the right to build large, elaborate synagogues visible from the public street. Synagogue architecture blossomed. Large Jewish communities wished to show their wealth and newly acquired status as citizens by constructing magnificent synagogues. Handsome 19th-century synagogues from the period of revival stand in virtually every country with a Jewish community. Most were built in revival styles then in fashion, such as
Neoclassical,
Neo-Byzantine,
Romanesque Revival,
Moorish Revival,
Gothic Revival, and
Greek Revival. There are
Egyptian Revival synagogues and even one
Mayan Revival synagogue. In the nineteenth and early twentieth century heyday of historicist architecture, however, most historicist synagogues, even the most magnificent ones, did not attempt a pure style, or even any particular style, and are best described as
eclectic.
Hasidic Judaism often established their own houses of worship, which are usually known now by the Yiddish loanword
shtiebel (). These comparatively modest buildings were the focus of Hasidic practice in
early modern and
pre-war Eastern Europe and afterwards in Israel and
North America. In contrast, the
Chabad movement has made a practice of designing
Chabad houses as replicas of or homages to the architecture of
770 Eastern Parkway.
Central Europe: Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Significant exceptions to the rule that synagogues are built in the prevailing style of their time and place are the
wooden synagogues in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and two forms of masonry synagogues: synagogues with bema support and nine-field synagogues (the latter not confined to synagogues).
Wooden synagogues in
Vowpa,
Belarus Wooden synagogues in the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth were a unique artistic and architectural form. Characteristic features include the independence of the pitched roof from the design of the interior domed ceiling. They had elaborately carved, painted, domed, balconied and vaulted interiors. The architectural interest of the exterior lay in the buildings' large scale, the multiple, horizontal lines of the tiered roofs, and the carved
corbels that supported them. Wooden synagogues featured a single, large hall. In contrast to contemporary churches, there was no
apse. Moreover, while contemporary churches featured imposing vestibules, the entry porches of the wooden synagogues were a low annex, usually with a simple lean-to roof. In these synagogues, the emphasis was on constructing a single, large, high-domed worship space. According to art historian
Stephen Sally Kayser, these wooden synagogues, with their painted and carved interiors, were "a truly original and organic manifestation of artistic expression—the only real Jewish folk art in history." According to
Louis Lozowick, writing in 1947, the wooden synagogues were unique because, unlike all previous synagogues, they were not built in their region's and era's architectural style, but in a newly evolved and uniquely Jewish style, making them "a truly original folk expression," whose "originality does not lie alone in the exterior architecture, it lies equally in the beautiful and intricate wood carving of the interior." Moreover, while in many parts of the world Jews were proscribed from entering the
building trades and even from practicing the decorative arts of painting and woodcarving, the wooden synagogues were built by Jewish craftsmen.
Synagogues with bimah-support , bimah-tower In the second half of the 16th century,
masonry synagogues whose interiors present an original structural solution, found in no other kind of building, were constructed in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. These were synagogue halls whose bimah was surrounded by four pillars. Placed upon a podium, connected above by
arcading, in one powerful pier, the pillars constituted the bimah-support or bimah-tower supporting the vault, consisting of four barrels with
lunettes intersecting at the corners. The bases of the vault-rips rested on the podium or were transmitted through a
balustrade, solid or pierced. A small
cupola covered the field above the bimah. These cupolas were occasionally significantly lower in comparison with the remaining fields of vaulting. Thus, a kind of inner chapel, built inside the bimah-tower, was created. One of the first synagogues with a bimah-support was the
Old Synagogue of Przemyśl, which was destroyed during World War II. Synagogues with a bimah-tower were built up to the 19th century and the concept was adopted in various Central European countries.
Nine-field synagogues Around the beginning of the 1630s, the first synagogues with nine-field vaulting were constructed. This design has a set of four large columns or piers placed squarely in a rectangular central space, supporting three rows of three vaults on the ceiling. They allowed for much greater halls than hitherto and were also called
nine-bay synagogues. The
Great Suburb Synagogue in
Lviv and the synagogue in
Ostroh were erected virtually at the same time (1625 and 1627). In these halls the vaulting rested on four tall pillars and on corresponding wall
pilasters. The columns and the pilasters were situated in equal spacing and dividing the roof-area into nine equal fields. In these synagogues the bimah was a free-standing podium or a bower situated within the central field between the pillars.
Egyptian Revival Egyptian Revival synagogues were popular in the early nineteenth century.
Rachel Wischnitzer argues that they were part of the fashion for Egyptian style inspired by the
Napoleonic Wars. According to
Carol Herselle Krinsky, they were meant as imitations of
Solomon's Temple and intended by architects and governments to insult Jews by portraying Judaism as a foreign faith. According to
Diana Muir Appelbaum, they were expressions of Jewish identity intended to advertise Jewish origins in
ancient Israel.
Moorish influence in
Plzeň,
Czech Republic In medieval
Spain (both
Al-Andalus and the Christian kingdoms), a host of synagogues were built, and it was usual to commission them from
Moorish and later
Mudéjar architects. Very few of these medieval synagogues, built with Moorish techniques and style, are conserved. The two best-known Spanish synagogues are in
Toledo, one known as
el Tránsito, the other as
Santa María la Blanca, and are now preserved as national monuments. The former is a small building containing very rich decorations; the latter is especially noteworthy. It is based on the Almohad style and features long rows of octagonal columns with curiously carved capitals, from which Moorish arches spring, supporting the roof. Another significant Mudéjar synagogue is the one at
Córdoba built in 1315. As in el Tránsito, the vegetal and geometrical stucco decorations are purely Moorish, but unlike the former, the
epigraphic texts are in Hebrew. After the
Expulsion of Jews from Spain and
Portugal, there was a general feeling among wealthy Sephardim that Moorish architecture was appropriate in synagogues. By the mid-19th century, the style was adopted by the Ashkenazim of
Central and
Eastern Europe, who associated Moorish and Mudéjar architectural forms with the
Golden Age of Jewish culture in Spain. As a consequence,
Moorish Revival spread around the globe as a preferred style of synagogue architecture, although Moorish architecture is by no means Jewish, either in fact or in feeling. The
Alhambra has furnished inspiration for innumerable synagogues, but seldom have its graceful proportions or its delicate modeling and elaborate ornamentation been successfully copied. Moorish style, when adapted by the Ashkenazim, was believed to have been a reference to the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry, it was not the primary intention of the Jews and architects who chose to build in the Moorish style. Rather, the choice to use the Moorish style was reflective of pride in their heritage. Moorish Style remained a popular choice for synagogues throughout the rest of the 19th and early 20th century.
Modern synagogue architecture in Munich, Germany In the modern period, synagogues have continued to be built in every popular architectural style, including
Art Nouveau,
Art Deco, International style, and all contemporary styles. In the post-World War II period "a period of post-war modernism," came to the fore, "characterized by assertive architectural gestures that had the strength and integrity to stand alone, without applied artwork or Jewish iconography." A notable work of
Art Nouveau, pre–
World War I Hungarian synagogue architecture is
Budapest's
Kazinczy Street Synagogue. In the UK, synagogues built in the early 1960s, such as a
Carmel College, Oxfordshire, designed by the British architect Thomas Hancock, were decorated with the stained glass of windows of Israeli artist,
Nehemia Azaz. The stained glass windows were praised by art and architecture scholar
Nikolaus Pevsner as using "extraordinary technique with rough pieces of coloured glass like crystals" and by Historic England as "brilliant and innovative artistic glass". == The interior ==