The Grand Synagogue is one of the largest and oldest Jewish temples in Poland, made in Renaissance and Baroque styles. It represents characteristic nine-field synagogues, with a chapel-like bimah situated in the central part of the temple, that were popular in the second half of the 17th and in the 18th century. The synagogue is the dominant element of the former Jewish quarter of Tykocin, partially preserved to this day.

History of the structure

The Jewish community in Tykocin was established in 1522, when Albert Gasztold granted a privilege allowing ten Jewish families to settle in the town. In 1536, Gasztołd released the Jewish community from the jurisdiction of the town starosts and handed over all rights to the kehilla board. In 1642, the brick synagogue was erected on the site of a wooden synagogue, in the centre of the Jewish quarter of Kaczorowo, during the period of the town most dynamic development. Clustered around the synasgogue were buildings used by the community for administrative, judicial and educational purposes. There was a tailoring school and a kehilla school in the synagogue building. The synagogue building, initially in Renaissance style with a butterfly roof and an attic, in the mid-18th century, probably after a great fire in the town, was significantly restructured. The building was covered with a mansard roof, got a new vault and probably a tower in the north-western corner. The general renovation of the synagogue was carried out in the 1840s. In the 19th century, the interior of the temple was also painted. During World War II, the building was wrecked, looted and turned into a warehouse; in 1945-1947, women’s sections were dismantled, and fertilizers were stored inside until 1957. In the 1970s, the building was restored and since 1976 the synagogue serves as a museum. Renovated at the beginning of the 20th century.

Description of the structure

the synagogue is located in the western part of the town, in the southern frontage of Piłsudskiego Street and eastern frontage Kozia Street. The front elevastion of the synagogue faces west. The building is oriented eastwards (towards Jerusalem). Renaissance-Baroque style Made of brick, plastered,

with a rectangular floor plan. The main body of the synagogue has nine fields, on a square plan, with extensions along the entire length of the body from the south. and west, in which there were rooms for women. A vestibule is situated in the northern part, in the corner from the west. - a tower, square at the ground floor level, with a semicircular turret housing a staircase added to its eastern corner. The rectangular main body is covered with a mansard roof, one-story extensions are covered with mono-pitched roofs. Three-storey, in the upper part octagonal turret covered with a pyramid roof. Elevations: north, south and west three-axis, with rectangular windows in deep recesses topped with segmental arches, in the eastern elevation. two identical windows and a low slope in the middle. Rectangular, multi-panel windows in the women's sections. A single-space interior is under a nine-pole cross vault. In the center the architectural bimah, with entrances on the sides. The walls and pillars are covered with fragments of 19th-century polychrome with a motif of floral ornaments and verses from the Torah. A fragment of the original 17th century polychrome with rustications was discovered on the pillar. On the eastern wall Torah ark with a recess for storing Torah scrolls, framed by a pair of Ionic columns, on which a decorative crowning embellished with a floral ornament.

Visitor access: the building is open to visitors.

Author of the note: compiled by Joanna Kotyńska-Stetkiewicz, Regional Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage in Białystok, 12 Noveber 2014

Bibliography

• Record sheet, Synagoga Tykocin, compiled by D. Stankiewicz, Ł. Włoch, 1997, archive of the Regional Monuments Protection Office in Białystok.
• Synagoga w Tykocinie. compiled by J. Baranowski, Warsaw 1959, mps PPKZ, archive of the Local Branch of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage.
• Tykocin. Studium historyczno-urbanistyczne, compiled by J. Kubiak, Warsaw 1975, mps, PPKZ, in the collections of the Regional Monument Protection Office in Białystok.
• Górska I., Kotyńska-Stetkiewicz J., Kułak A., Ryżewski G., Perły architektury województwa podlaskiego, Białystok-Bydgoszcz 2009, p. 11.