Synagoga Tempel w Krakowie, Kraków

Tempel Synagogue on Miodowa Street is Kraków’s Reform synagogue, built for a community that chose a modern form of Jewish worship. Completed in 1862 to a design by Ignacy Hercok, it was shaped in Moorish Revival and round-arched historicist styles; the former borrows ornamental ideas associated with Islamic art, while the latter revives medieval Romanesque forms. The congregation’s long campaign for its construction lasted seventeen years.

At the main entrance, the black-marble tablets of the Ten Commandments mark the building’s religious purpose. Inside, the decoration is especially lavish: patterned painting, stucco, women’s galleries, and coloured stained glass turn the prayer hall into a richly composed ceremonial space. The Torah ark at the eastern end is made of white Carrara marble and rises beneath a gilded dome.

The building was devastated by the German Nazis during the Second World War, when it became a storehouse and its northern aisle was used as a stable. Restoration completed in 2000 revived the synagogue after years of decline. It remains active, with worship on selected occasions, and it also fills with concerts and gatherings during Kraków’s Jewish Culture Festival.