Catch a glimpse of Pest’s rich Jewish history with a tour of the Dohany Street Synagogue, completed in 1859 as a masterpiece of Moorish Revival architecture (entry, 13,000 forints). Also known as the Great Synagogue and said to be the largest in Europe, the building has room for some 3,000 worshippers and contains a number of unusual features, including a huge pipe organ that is technically located outside the synagogue walls. The English-language tour lasts about 45 minutes, covering the history of the building and the local Jewish community, as well as the open, integration-minded society that inspired Neolog Judaism, a type of Reform Judaism, in Hungary. Don’t miss the upstairs museum, which displays priceless menorahs, prayer books, shofars and other historic artifacts, with windows that overlook the grave markers in the courtyard, a remnant of the old Budapest ghetto, where more than 2,000 victims of fascism were buried.
Evan Rail © The New York Times.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
