Description of the attraction
One of the architectural landmarks of the city of Lutsk is the Synagogue (also known as the "Small Castle"). The synagogue (Small Castle) - an architectural monument of national importance - is located in the historical and cultural reserve "Old Lutsk" along Danylo Halytsky Street.
The Lutsk Synagogue was built in 1620 and for a long time served as a religious, social and educational center for Lutsk Jews. The first known memoirs and studies concerning the Great Synagogue in Lutsk date back to the middle of the 19th century. Volyn ethnographer and writer Tadeusz Stetskiy wrote in 1876 that this building was built during the reign of the Great Lithuanian Duke Vitovt.
Initially, at the end of the 14th and the first half of the 15th century, the building of the synagogue was one of the defensive structures of the ring of the Roundabout Castle, and it was from here that its second name, "Small Castle", came from. A square five-tiered tower with loopholes adjoined the brick building of the Small Castle from the south-western side. The towers and facades were crowned with a Renaissance attic. In the very center of the prayer hall there were four powerful octahedral pillars that held the vaults of the cross. Wide arched openings served as a source of daylight.
In 1942, during the occupation of the city by German troops, the synagogue building was partially destroyed. For thirty years no one has been involved in the preservation of architectural monuments. During this time, it slowly collapsed: the western wall was almost dismantled, the dungeons were covered with garbage, the bimah, stucco molding and all decorative elements disappeared from the interior. Subsequently, the synagogue was struck off the list of architectural monuments protected by the state.
In 1981, the synagogue, together with the tower, was overhauled. In order to somehow preserve the ancient monument, a project was created to transform the ruins into a sports club.
