Szeged Synagogue

{{Infobox religious building

| name = Szeged Synagogue

| native_name = {{langx|hu|Szegedi zsinagóga}}

| image = Szeged synagogue SF.jpg

| image_upright = 1.4

| alt =

| caption = The synagogue in 2011

| map_type = Hungary

| map_size = 250

| map_relief = 1

| map_caption = Location of the synagogue in Hungary

| location = Josika ut. 10, Szeged, Csongrád-Csanád

| country = Hungary

| geo = {{Coord|46|15|14|N|20|08|34|E|region:HU-CS_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki|display=it}}

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| religious_affiliation = Neolog Judaism

| rite = Nusach Ashkenaz

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| status = Synagogue

| functional_status = Active

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| website = {{url|zsinagoga.szeged.hu/en}}

| architect = Lipót Baumhorn

| architecture_type = Synagogue architecture

| architecture_style = {{ubl|Art Nouveau|Historicist}}

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| established = 1803 {{small|(as a congregation)}}

| groundbreaking = 1900

| year_completed = 1902

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| capacity = 1,300 seats

| length = {{cvt|48|m}}

| width = {{cvt|35|m}}

| width_nave =

| height_max = {{cvt|49|m}}

| dome_quantity = Four {{small|(maybe more)}}

| dome_height_outer =

| dome_height_inner = {{cvt|32|m}}

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| materials = Brick

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| footnotes = {{cite web |url=https://cja.huji.ac.il/mhs/browser.php?mode=set&id=24629 |title=Great (New) Synagogue in Szeged |work=Historic synagogues of Europe |publisher=Foundation for Jewish Heritage and the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem |date=n.d. |access-date=13 July 2024 }}

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The Szeged Synagogue ({{langx|hu|Szegedi zsinagóga}}), also called the Great Synagogue and the New Synagogue, is a Neolog Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at Josika ut. 10, in Szeged, in the county of Csongrád-Csanád, Hungary.

A tourist attraction for the town, in addition to occasional religious use, {{as of|2024|lc=on}} the synagogue also served as an events center and concert hall.

Architecture

Designed by Lipót Baumhorn, after winning an 1897 design competition,{{cite web |url=https://synagogues-360.anumuseum.org.il/gallery/szeged-synagogue/ |title=Szeged Synagogue |work=Synagogues360 |date=2024 |access-date=16 July 2024 |format=moving panoramic image }} the synagogue was completed in 1902 and is considered to contain the finest examples of the unique fin de siècle Hungarian blending of Art Nouveau| and Historicist styles, sometimes known as Magyar style,{{cite web |url=http://www.art-nouveau.hu/art.php?menuid=2&id=102 |title=Architecture: Historism and Art Nouveau in Hungarian architecture around 1900 |work=Art Nouveau in Hungary |access-date=2009-02-09 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721103515/http://www.art-nouveau.hu/art.php?menuid=2&id=102 |archive-date=2011-07-21 |date=n.d. }} or Sezession style.

The interior of the synagogue building, with its {{convert|48.5|m|ft|abbr=off|sp=us}} tall domed ceiling, draws on multiple historical styles to produce a blend of Art Nouveau and Moorish Revival styles. The rib-like wall above the organ has Gothic Revival origins, while the columns supporting the galleries are Roman. The interior of the great dome, and all of the building's stained glass, are the work of the artist Miksa Róth.{{cite web |url=http://www.zsinagoga.szeged.hu/en/index.php?menupont=syn |title=Synagogue |work=Szeged Synagogue |date=n.d. |access-date= |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070603094948/http://www.zsinagoga.szeged.hu/en/index.php?menupont=syn |archive-date=2007-06-03 }}

The design of the Torah Ark alludes to the Holy of Holies in the Temple of Solomon by using sittimwood from the banks of Nile, the wood called for in the building of the Temple of Solomon in 1 Kings. The hinges are in the shape of the Hyssop plant, a plant used in the ancient Temple service.

The Szeged Synagogue is the second largest in Hungary after the Dohány Street Synagogue in Budapest, and the fourth largest in the world.{{cite web |url=http://jewish.hu/view.php?clabel=baumhorn_lipot |title=Lipót Baumhorn (1860-1932) |work=Jewish.hu |publisher=Hungaria Concert Kft |date=2010 |access-date=16 July 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120502211252/http://www.jewish.hu/view.php?clabel=baumhorn_lipot |archive-date=2012-05-02 |postscript=. (Additional text). }}

Gallery

Szegedzsinagoga2.jpg|Interior of the synagogue

SzegedZsinagoga.jpg|Dome from inside the synagogue

Szegedzsinagóga3.jpg|The Torah Ark (or Tebah) of the synagogue

References

External links

[https://archives.yu.edu/xtf/view?docId=ead/szegedjewishcommunity/szegedjewishcommunity.xml;query=;brand=default Szeged Jewish Community Records, 1875-1948] at Yeshiva University Archives contains some primary documents regarding construction of the synagogue

Category:1803 establishments in the Austrian Empire

Category:20th-century synagogues in Hungary

Category:Art Nouveau architecture in Hungary

Category:Art Nouveau synagogues

Category:Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Hungary

Category:Ashkenazi synagogues

Category:Tourist attractions in Szeged

Category:Buildings and structures in Szeged

Category:Jewish organizations established in 1803

Category:Lipót Baumhorn buildings

Category:Neolog synagogues in Hungary

Category:Synagogue buildings with domes