Polish Landscape with Synagogues

Synagogues used to be an integral part of the Polish landscape as the Jews were integral part of the population of Poland. The article discusses the location, internal arrangement of main prayer rooms, auxiliary spaces, and external appearance of synagogues in various regions of the frequently changing territory of Poland, from the thirteenth until the twentieth century. The decoration and symbolism used in interiors of the most characteristic Polish synagogues of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is given a separate section. Attention is directed to the question of synagogue style in the nineteenth century. After World War II, with only very few Jews living in Poland now and with the diminishing number of synagogues, the last traces of many hundred years of a Jewish presence in towns also disappear.