Poland Travel
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Old Synagogue in the city of Cracow (district of Kazimierz, Szeroka street), that is the oldest one in Poland. Researchers have not yet agreed whether it was erected at the end of the 15th or the beginning of the 16th century. In 1557 it was destroyed by fire. After the fire the synagogue was reconstructed by Matteo Gucci, an Italian architect who continued work until 1570. During World War II, the Germans destroyed the building completely and plundered it. In the 1950s, the architect Jozef Jamroz and Jozef Ptak restored the Gothic-Renaissance form given to the synagogue by Matteo Gucci. The Old Synagogue in Cracow is a tacit symbol of Jewish culture inseparable from the Polish culture of which it formed an excellent part. Beside the synagogues of Worms and Prague, it is one of the most precious examples of sacred Jewish architecture.
