Szegő Dóra - Szegő György: Synagogues - Our Budapest (Budapest, 2004)
Competitions for the Designs of a syangogue in Lipótváros, 1898-1906
yellow, red and gold decorative painting of the sections also follows mediaeval patterns. The flat ceiling of the entrance area is transformed into the pointed crossvault of the interior. The narrow, upwards-reaching space broadens out into a transept near the Eastern wall. The niche of the Ark, reminiscent of a pointed apse, stands in the central axis of the interior. The Orientalising corbie gable above the Ark is supported by slender pillars. Inside its pediment is a pointed field with a white and gold geometric stucco decoration in the shape of a Star of David set in a circle. Above the Ark there used to be a pair of Corinthian columns holding a canopy. Since the reconstruction of the building, there are only the two slim pillars at the back supporting the unadorned gable topped with the two stone tablets of the law. There are now metal candelabra standing where the two columns had been on the steps to the almemor; on either side is a the recent addition of a window decorated with Jewish symbols and designed by the Mohai brothers. In front of the Ark and parallel to the pews in the nave is a wooden pulpit with reliefs in the shape of Art Deco stars of David and arches set in circles between the banister rails. This ornamentation, which also appears on the wooden door of the Ark in the shape of blind arcades, is repeated on the banisters of the women’s galleries running down the length of the nave. Matching all this are more stars of David on the backs of the rabbis' and hazzans' (cantors') carved chairs as well as the floral ornaments of a somewhat different nature on the organ. However clever the stratification of these various layers of decorative motifs may be, the original Neo-Gothic character of the temple has not been restored since the synagogue was used by German soldiers as a horse-stable during World War II. Many families once living in the building or in the neighbourhood were killed in the Holocaust, whose victims included Rabbi Pál Vidor, regarded as the "soul" of the temple. The marble slabs next to the Ark pay homage to their memory. The synagogue was restored in 2000 to conditions somewhat more modest than its original state, and thus the religious and cultural life of the Buda Jewish community could be revived here and in the adjoining rooms of the Buda Mitzveh Club. Competitions for the Designs of a synagogue in Lipótváros, 1898-1906 Lands lying north of the city walls of Pest and belonging to the future Lipótváros (Leopold Town) were parcelled out as part of a comprehensive urban development plan in the early 1800s. The plan envisaged a new commercial centre for Pest consisting of uniform buildings arranged in a grid pattern, an idea 49
