History
A Sephardi synagogue
(also known as Sijavuš-pašina daira or Velika
Avlija) is known to have been built in 1581 with the
donation of Turskish beglerbeg Sijamuš-paša to help members
of the Jewish community in Sarajevo who were poor. By the
end of the 16th century, the space encompassing Velika
Avlija was turned into the first synagogue. The building
burned down in both 1679 and 1778, and was rebuilt each
time. It now serves as a Jewish museum. Next door is the New
Synagogue (Novi Hram) serving as an art gallery owned
by the Jewish community of Sarajevo. The magnificent
Sephardic synagogue of 1932 (Il Kal Grande)
acknowledged as the largest and most ornate synagogues in
the
Balkans, was destroyed by the
Nazis in 1941.
Ashkenazi Jews arrived in
Sarajevo with the
Austro-Hungarian Empire in the late nineteenth century.
An Ashkenazi synagogue, seen in the photo to the right, was
built in 1902 in an elaborate
Moorish Revival style. Designed by
Karel Pařík, its highly decorated
neo-Moorish style was a popular choice for synagogues in
the
Austro-Hungarian Empire.
The synagogue has enormous
arches with richly-painted decorations. The high, ornate
ceiling was highlighted by a ten-pointed star. Today the
synagogue is confined to the women's galleries on the upper
floor. At the entrance, a stone
menorah commemorates the 400-year anniversary of the
Jews in
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The devastation wreaked by
the
Holocaust and the
civil war during the
1990’s has left fewer than 5,700 Jews in the former
Yugoslavia. The Jewish community, like the entire
country, was once defined by its unique combination of
eastern and western traditions. Populations of
Sephardi and
Ashkenazi Jews peacefully co-existed with their
Christian and
Muslim neighbors in cities like
Sarajevo.
