Synagogue in Polici u Jemnice

The synagogue in Polici u Jemnice is the only one of its kind in Central Europe. The tabernacle of the rural baroque cut contained an interior in an exotic Moorish style. Over the years, the synagogue served not only as a place of prayer, but also as a gymnasium.

The oldest written document about the synagogue dates from 1671. In 1728, however, Jewish families were forcibly moved from the houses near the village to the newly built ghetto. This is how the Jewish quarter was created in Židovská Street south of the castle, today a valuable urban planning ensemble. Most of the 26 houses planned along the street have been preserved, among other buildings the distillery No. 138 and the hospital with a bath in No. 128 have been preserved.

The synagogue in the lower part of Židovská Street was built in 1758–1759 in a simple rural Baroque style , but after 1917 it was adapted to a gymnasium. It was not until 2020 that it was successfully renovated for museum purposes. The exposition shows the life of Jews in the countryside .

In 2021, the monument won the Patrimonium pro futuro prize for the reconstruction of the building. During the renovation in 2012–2020, the synagogue was stripped of modern construction interventions. In addition to saving the very building substance of the building, which was threatened especially by increased humidity, the interior was restored and the decoration with wall paintings and stucco decor was largely reconstructed . The discovery of the remains of the foundation of the central lectern in the layer of the historic floor enabled its reconstruction, which is analogously derived from similar, rarely preserved elements elsewhere. Similarly, according to the findings of the stone bases of the columns near the western wall of the interior, it was possible to reconstruct the women’s gallery in a plausible form close to the original one.

Venue

Synagogue in Polici u Jemnice
675 34 Shelf

Region:Highlands region
Region:Třebíčsko – Moravian Highlands
Tips for a trip:Shelf and surroundings

Operator

Federation of Jewish Communities in the Czech Republic
Maiselova 18
110 01 Prague 1

• www.fzo.cz
• GPS:50.089725 14.418443

Duration

30 min. to 1 hour