Our first stop on this day was at the Dohany Street Synagogue complex and a bit of a walk through more of the old city in what was once the Jewish ghetto.
This synagogue is the largest in Europe and according to our guide even larger than the one in New York City (though there is a bit of an argument about that fact). It easily seats 3,000 people and is the center of Neolog Judaism. The congregation worships in the Ashkenazi rite.
This complex consists of the Great Synagogue, the Hero's Temple, a graveyard, a memorial garden, and a Jewish museum. We got to visit all of them and surprisingly had to go through security there as well. Pretty strict security truth be told as purses were manually gone through after going through x-ray screening.
The building is made with three spacious, and richly decorated aisles. There are balconies on each side, and surprisingly an organ (strange as there can be no work done on the Sabbath and playing an organ is considered work).
Just a few photos from the attached Jewish museum. It holds the Jewish religious and historical collection. This is a collection of relics of the Pest Hevrha Kaddishah, ritual objects of Shabbat and the High Holidays. There is a Holocaust room which was not open while we were there.
Next we got to visit the memorial garden and the graveyard. During the Holocaust the synagogue served as a shelter for many hundreds. Over 2,000 of those who died in the ghetto from starvation and cold during the winter of 1944-1945 are buried there. While it is not tradition for a Jewish cemetery to be so close to a synagogue and some bodies were transferred outside city limits those 2,000 were buried in the makeshift cemetery.
We then moved on to the Memorial Garden, but I think I will save that and the rest of our excursion until tomorrow. Pretty sure this picture heavy post has caused some of you to go to sleep.
Everybody have a wonderful evening.
God bless.
No sleeping here! Those pictures are wonderful, I wonder did you have a sense of awe or sorrow in seeing the graveyard and hearing the stories of the Holocaust?
ReplyDeleteI am loving the pictures. Looks like a lovely trip.
JC
No sleeping from me. I love to see pictures of places i will probably never get to visit. I find the Jewish religion fascinating. That’s so sad that the need to search purses and go through security is a thing, these days.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are wonderful Jackie - those mass grave sites must have been sad to see & to think what went on there. xx
ReplyDeleteDefinitely not asleep! Its lovely to see your travel photos.
ReplyDeleteOh wow, what beautiful photos. The architecture is beautiful. The history is very sad though, a terrible time. Reminds me of how very blessed and fortunate we are as others are not and were not as fortunate. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful workmanship! Everything in America is so new! We have no old buildings! 250 years is a drop in the bucket! lol. I am enjoying your travel posts!
ReplyDeleteSuch a horrific time in history and the memorial garden is a tiny step to some healing. Thanks for sharing the beautiful photos.
ReplyDeleteOh the architecture. I know I keep saying that, but it is so awesome. The mass graves are always sad to see.
ReplyDeleteYour trip looks wonderful so far.
ReplyDeleteSo sad, so many deaths. It must have been upsetting to hear these stories. The church us magnificent.
ReplyDeleteDear Jackie, the architecture is amazing and your photos are beautiful! I visited the Holocaust Museum here in Montreal about 20 years ago and it was a very sad and touching experience!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for sharing, dear friend. I hope you have a lovely weekend ahead.
Definitely not sleeping here either - this is the closest I will ever get to visiting the area in person so I'm really enjoying seeing it through your eyes.
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