Jewish Kazimierz History

The Tempel Synagogue stands apart with a facade of intricate Moorish Revival patterns and a tall, arched entrance crowned by two stone Tablets of the Law. Built in the eighteen sixties for Kraków's progressive Jewish community, the…

Plac Nowy in the Kazimierz district is defined by the circular brick building sitting dead center, known to locals simply as the Okraglak. It dates back to nineteen hundred, built to house kosher slaughterhouses and stalls for merchants…

The Isaac Jakubowicz Synagogue features a high, plain attic wall decorated with decorative scrolls, a distinctive profile that rises above the surrounding buildings in the Kazimierz district. Built in sixteen forty-four by a wealthy…

The High Synagogue on Jozefa Street stands apart because its prayer hall sits on the second floor, a feature that distinguishes it from every other synagogue in the Kazimierz district. Built in the late sixteenth century, the structure…

The Old Synagogue in Kazimierz is identified by its heavy, fortress-like stone walls and its distinctive two-gabled roofline. Built in the fifteenth century, it serves as the oldest synagogue building still standing in Poland. During the…

Szeroka Street functions as the wide, cobbled spine of the Kazimierz district. It stretches out as a generous, open rectangle, quite unlike the cramped alleys that define the rest of this neighborhood. For centuries, this space served as…

The Remah Cemetery is defined by its low, uneven stone wall and the dense, moss-covered clusters of sixteenth-century headstones that lean into each other. Established in fifteen fifty-two, it served as the primary burial ground for the…

The Galicia Jewish Museum occupies a converted furniture mill in the Kazimierz district. Its long, low brick building contains an exhibit documenting the ruins of Jewish life in Polish Galicia. British photographer Chris Schwarz spent…