Medieval History
The uncovery and reconstruction of the Synagogue is part of the general plan for the revitalization of the Buda castle district, and has been long planned by the Budapest History Museum as well (similar plans were last announced in 2008). The non-profit Schulhof Foundation was also created with the aim of promoting the excavation and restoration of one of Europes most beautiful and historically significant synagogues. At a time, when even the Cultural Heritage Office was disbanded in Hungary (more on this later), this plan unfortunately may need more time before it is realized.
- Inscription Reveals Ancient Jewish Toilet In Cologne
Archaeologists in Cologne, Germany have uncovered a fascinating 13th-century Hebrew inscription on a lintel stone in the basement of a home near the city?s ancient synagogue. The Hebrew inscription reads ?This is the window through which the feces are...
- Cologne Uncovers An Ancient Jewish Past
The remains of an ancient Jewish quarter - right in the centre of the German city of Cologne, and still being uncovered - are little short of an archaeological sensation. The excavations, which began in 2007, have already revealed remains of a synagogue,...
- Exhibition About The Matthias Church
A major new exhibition about the building and the history of the Church of Our Lady (Matthias Church) of Buda Castle opened at the Budapest History Museum. The Church is a major historic monument of Budapest, part of the Unesco World Heritage site of...
- Conference And Exhibition About László Gerevich
László Gerevich, one of the eminent Hungarian archaeologists of the Middle Ages, was born 100 years ago. To commemorate, the Budapest History Museum organized a conference and an exhibition about his career. The highlight of this career was the excavation...
- The Medieval Parish Church Of Pest (part I.)
The Inner City parish church is perhaps the most frequently-seen, yet most overlooked major medieval building in Budapest. Standing in the middle of the city, right next to Elizabeth bridge, modern-day citizens of Budapest zoom by it every day. The church,...
Medieval History
The Buried Medieval Synagogue of Buda
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| View of the remains in 1964 |
Hungarian daily Népszabadság reported this weekend on the Schulhof Foundation for the Restoration of the Medieval Synagogue of Buda. The aim of the foundation is to uncover and reconstruct the medieval great Synagogue of Buda, which was found in 1964. This late Gothic Synagogue was built in 1461, and was destoyed in 1686, when the castle of Buda was taken back by the Christian army from the Turks. Although the medieval Jewish community of Buda had to leave the town in 1526 (when the army of Suleiman the Great first took the Hungarian capital), they were allowed to return during the period of Ottoman Turkish rule (1541-1686). In September 1686, when the Christian army broke through the Vienna Gate in the process of taking back the town, they started slaughtering everyone they encountered - Turks and Jews alike. The chronicle of rabbi Isaac Schulhof describes how the people of the town ran into the synagogue and tried to barricade themselves inside - but the Christians stormed the synagogue and slaughtered everyone inside. The building burned down, and was later covered over, becoming the tomb of those trapped inside for several centuries.
Remains of the building were found by László Zolnay in 1964. The Synagogue was a square building, which was divided into two aisles by a row of piers. The remains are about 4 meters below the present-day street level, so tall walls, as well as much of the piers once dividing the space survive. The vault supported by these piers already collapsed in the 16th century, but one keystone survives. After the removal of the bodies, the great synagoge had to be covered over again, in hopes of a future reconstruction. Stones from the piers were taken across the street, where a smaller and earlier synagogue was also found in the 1960s. This smaller prayer house was rebuilt from its ruins at the beginning of the 18th century as a residential house, and now it operates as a small museum, as part of the Budapest History Museum.
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| Drawing of one of the walls of the Synagogue |
The uncovery and reconstruction of the Synagogue is part of the general plan for the revitalization of the Buda castle district, and has been long planned by the Budapest History Museum as well (similar plans were last announced in 2008). The non-profit Schulhof Foundation was also created with the aim of promoting the excavation and restoration of one of Europes most beautiful and historically significant synagogues. At a time, when even the Cultural Heritage Office was disbanded in Hungary (more on this later), this plan unfortunately may need more time before it is realized.
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| Aurél Budai's reconstruction sketch of the Synagogue, after the collapse of the vaults |
The Buda Chronicle of Isaac Schulhof was published in Hungarian in 1979, and László Zolnay published a study on the medieval synagogues of Budapest in 1987 (Buda középkori zsidósága és zsinagógáik). More recently, in 2007, Aurél Budai also published a small bilingual monograph on the Synagogue (Középkori zsinagóga a budai várnegyedben / Medieval Synagogue in the Buda Castle Quarter). The Synagoue is located in the garden behind Táncsics Mihály Street 23 in Budapest. More information is available on the website of the Schulhof Foundation.
- Inscription Reveals Ancient Jewish Toilet In Cologne
Archaeologists in Cologne, Germany have uncovered a fascinating 13th-century Hebrew inscription on a lintel stone in the basement of a home near the city?s ancient synagogue. The Hebrew inscription reads ?This is the window through which the feces are...
- Cologne Uncovers An Ancient Jewish Past
The remains of an ancient Jewish quarter - right in the centre of the German city of Cologne, and still being uncovered - are little short of an archaeological sensation. The excavations, which began in 2007, have already revealed remains of a synagogue,...
- Exhibition About The Matthias Church
A major new exhibition about the building and the history of the Church of Our Lady (Matthias Church) of Buda Castle opened at the Budapest History Museum. The Church is a major historic monument of Budapest, part of the Unesco World Heritage site of...
- Conference And Exhibition About László Gerevich
László Gerevich, one of the eminent Hungarian archaeologists of the Middle Ages, was born 100 years ago. To commemorate, the Budapest History Museum organized a conference and an exhibition about his career. The highlight of this career was the excavation...
- The Medieval Parish Church Of Pest (part I.)
The Inner City parish church is perhaps the most frequently-seen, yet most overlooked major medieval building in Budapest. Standing in the middle of the city, right next to Elizabeth bridge, modern-day citizens of Budapest zoom by it every day. The church,...