The Synagogue at Úštěk

Near Terezín in north Bohemia stands the small town of Úštěk, one of the smallest conservation areas in the Czech Republic. It includes the remains of a small Jewish street with a synagogue in a completely unique position on a steep slope near the square. The synagogue, which stands on a rock ledge, dates from the end of the 18th century.

The Jewish community in Úštěk was never particularly big. Services first took place in a wooden synagogue, though it burned down during a great fire in the town in 1765. It took the local Jews nine years to get permission to build a new synagogue of stone from the local quarry. It is said to have been erected within the same year. In the decades that followed a neo-Renaissance hallway was added, as were two small rooms for a school and to accommodate a teacher. The ornamental paintings with Moorish motifs date from that time. Following WWII the building was closed and fell into disrepair, before undergoing renovation between 1993 and 2003. Today it offers visitors tours of its unique interior and exterior, as well as an exhibition recalling the local Jewish community.