Marijampole Synagogue

Former Jewish synagogue is part of our sacral heritage, a witness of the long Jewish history in Lithuania. Jews migrated to the territory of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania approximately at the end of the XV century. At the end of the XVII century and in the early XVIII century, the country has been ravaged by wars and epidemics, the cities emptied of their inhabitants and the Jews were invited hoping to revive the slowly dying economy. Since the original project has not been found yet, it is assumed that the synagogue was designed by architect Valerii Rybarskii in 1899. It is an eclectic building of historicism period, built in the city center in the XX century. Exterior decor is full of neo-romantic, neo-gothic, and oriental motifs. Synagogue’s design includes rectangular plan shape, plastered masonry, and semicircular apse Aron kodesh (Holy arc) – the most important design element in the synagogue, placed on the ornate cabinet in the eastern side, with two entrances to synagogue on the west side and one on the north.

The building is composed of two parts of different heights: majestic two-story western part and slightly lower prayer hall in the east with even lower apse. The roofs are gabled, with pediments, though the apse’s roof is arched and made of tin. The main entrance is at the centre of the western facade. The symmetrical facade is divided into three sections by four vertical, decorative, and thin masonry bands crossing the cornice. The corner lesenes are projected a little above the roof line. The upper part of the lesenes is decorated with horseshoe shaped cut-outs. The central recess includes rectangular portico, bifora arched second floor window and blind arcade above it. In between the tall windows are the embossed rosettes. The symbolic motif of the Decalogue tablets is incorporated into the recess of the pediment. The Decalogue, also known as Ten Commandments, is the list of biblical rules written on two stone tablets that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai. Both sides of the pediment and the apse each have a circular window. The side recesses of the pediment are bounded by cornices and include first-floor rectangular windows and lancet windows of the second floor. The interior was decorated by experienced local craftsmen. Unfortunately, no authentic designs have survived. The main section of the synagogue is the male prayer hall, shaped similar to a square. In the centre of it, there was a bema – a low rectangular podium, supported by pillars, with openwork ornaments on the cornice. Menorah was placed in the bema, where rituals and Torah readings were held. The Torah, or Pentateuch, establishes the relationship between God and a human, and the meaning of the whole existence. It is comprised of 613 commandments (mitzvoth) handwritten on the scroll (Sefer). Women were assigned a separate space at the corner of the hall or in the balcony with a separate entrance from the outside. Near the entryway, there was a sleeping place for the homeless, a choir gallery above it and basements under it.

The synagogue remained open until the Second World War. During the Soviet times, building’s exterior and interior were devastated. After the renovation in 1985, its purpose was changed to house Marijampole engineers. A decade later it was turned into the Education Centre. The restored synagogue’s design differs from the original.