Old Synagogue in Kraków

Poland's oldest standing synagogue building, the Old Synagogue (Synagoga Stara) on Szeroka Street in Kazimierz, ranks among the most precious landmarks of Jewish architecture in Europe. Mateo Gucci the Younger designed it as a fortress synagogue in the Gothic and Mannerist styles, and estimates of its completion range from 1407 to 1570.

For centuries it was a house of prayer for an Orthodox Jewish congregation. It was one of Kraków's most important synagogues and the main religious, social and organisational centre of the city's Jewish community until the Nazis desecrated it in 1939. Since 1958 the building has been a branch of the Historical Museum of Kraków, serving as a Judaic museum, and it is protected as a heritage monument. It suits visitors drawn to Jewish history and historic religious architecture.