en Trakai Kenesa

Trakai Kenesa
Trakai Kenesa
	The former synagogue in 2010
Religion
Affiliation	Karaite Judaism (former)
Ecclesiastical or organisational status	Synagogue (c. 1800– ); Jewish museum (since );
Status	Inactive (as a synagogue);; Repurposed;
Location
Location	30 Karaimų Street, Trakai, Vilnius County
Country	Lithuania
	Location of the former synagogue in Lithuania
Geographic coordinates	54°38′52″N 24°55′58″E / 54.64778°N 24.93278°E
Architecture
Type	Wooden synagogue
Style	Baroque Revival
Completed	c. 1800
Materials	Timber

The Trakai Kenesa is a former Qaraite Jewish congregation and synagogue, or kenesa, located at 30 Karaimų Street, in Trakai, in the Vilnius County of Lithuania.

Designed in the Baroque Revival style, the wooden synagogue was completed in c. 1800, restored in the 1890s. Built on a rectangular plan and covered with a hipped roof with a small annex, the synagogue was larger than the surrounding houses. The building is a rare example of one of the surviving kenesas of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth.^[2]^[a] The building now operates as a Jewish museum.^[4]

Notes

^ A source states that: The synagogue was dismantled at the request of the authorities towards the end of March 1966. The cause for the demolition was ... the regulation of Trocka Street. The former site of the synagogue currently houses garages and warehouses.^[3]

References

^ "Karaite Kenessa in Trakai". Historic Synagogues of Europe. Foundation for Jewish Heritage and the Center for Jewish Art at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. n.d. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
^ The Karaite Kenessa in Trakai. Vilnius. 2007.^{[self-published source?]}
^ "The Trakai Synagogue". Virtual Shtetl. POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. 2017. Retrieved August 14, 2024.
^ Kalik, Judith (2010). "Trakai". The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe. YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. Retrieved August 14, 2024.