Stara Synagoga, Kraków

Stara Synagoga at 24 Szeroka Street is the former Orthodox synagogue of Kazimierz. It is among the oldest synagogue buildings still standing in Poland, and it now serves as a museum focused on Kraków’s Jewish community. Notice the massive masonry, the high windows, and the defensive-looking upper wall: after a fire in 1557, the Florentine architect Mateo Gucci rebuilt the synagogue with features adapted from military construction.

The work retained its medieval two-aisled layout and was completed in 1570. For centuries, this was the central place of worship and communal life for Kraków’s Jews. In 1794, Tadeusz Kościuszko addressed Jewish residents here, seeking their support for the uprising that bore his name.

The building’s story also carries the violence of the German occupation: Nazis desecrated and looted it in 1939, used it as a warehouse, and executed thirty Polish hostages against its wall in 1943. Restored between 1956 and 1959, it has held its museum role since 1958.