Historic Synagogues of the World Locationless, Locationless, Locationless
By baltimore bill & knitting ellen on 09-Oct-02. Waypoint GC99A6

We found this nice Synagogues in the Heart from the Kosovo. Snowdream und Goldregen. Told me that is a old synagogues.

TFTC

Greets Snowdream

Temple Adas Emuno
254 Broad Avenue
Leonia, NJ
http://www.adasemuno.org/

"May you go from strength to strength"

This was one of the first congregations assembled in the state of New Jersey.

-----------------------------------
From the website:

"First organized in Hoboken, New Jersey, on October 22, 1871, Congregation Adas Emuno’s founding principles centered on a spiritual partnership offering an inexhaustible endowment of hope, courage, and inspiration in concert with a love of family life and a practicing faith in universal brotherhood. Phil Elkins, a distinguished past president who was instrumental in moving the synagogue from Hoboken to Leonia, always referred to the synagogues as having a “warm familial feeling,†and that feeling has been the unbroken thread woven from the early days in Hoboken to the present days in Leonia. Through 134 years of abiding faith in Reform Judaism in America, the traditions of this glorious congregation have played an important part in the spiritual life of the community it serves.

In its pioneering days, there were few, if any, Jewish settlers in Hoboken. However, by 1871, there were enough German Jewish immigrants in the city and its surrounding areas to hold a meeting in the Odd Fellows Hall (then at 2nd and Washington Streets in Hoboken) led by Louis Ettinger, Rino Berel, and Max Konert. This meeting marked the beginning of Congregation Adas Emuno.

The first rabbi was the Rev. Solomon Schindler who later went on to lead a prosperous congregation in Boston, Massachusetts. The group continued to meet in the Odd Fellows Hall until April of 1874 when it moved to a larger and more ample building in town where it remained for nine more years. During this time, some congregation members began agitating for the erection of their own building, and in 1883 a synagogue for the Congregation Adas Emuno was built on a parcel of land donated by the Stevens Family. This charming Gothic Revival building still stands today as an historic landmark, and at the time of its construction, was the pride of its congregation and a “credit to the city [source: Hoboken Evening News, 1893] of Hoboken. Click here to see the building.

At the synagogue dedication on April 15, 1883, the congregation consisted of 33 members. By 1893 it had grown to 100 members, all from the best-known and most influential families of Hoboken. There was also a well-attended Sunday school, a choir composed of the daughters of members, and a very active Hebrew Ladies’ Aid Society to help relieve the suffering of the poor. Temple brotherhood and sisterhood groups were added in the early 1900s with the organization of the Junior Brotherhood in 1931 and the Spiritual Advisory Committee in 1933. In 1919, membership dues were $30.00 per year, but by 1924 that fee had been raised to $45.00 per year with an additional charge for seats for the High Holy Days (ranging from $5.00 to $15.00 per seat depending on the relationship of the seat to the bimah).

The synagogue moved to Leonia, it’s current home, in 1974. The synagogue building has a steeple with the Jewish Star on the end. The spirit still is of love of family and practicing faith in universal brotherhood.

This synagogue was built in 1842-44 in the City of Hamburg. in the 19th century the jewish lived in a part of they called Neustadt. In 1931 the jewish community opend in a new synagogue in the Oberstraße.
The houses and the synagogue in the Poolstr.had been sold in 1937, in 1944 some bombs destroyed parts of the houses. Now it's used by a car repair station.
In 2003 the houses has been posed under monument protection by the city of Hamburg.
More informations: http://fhh.hamburg.de/stadt/Aktuell/behoerden/kulturbehoerde/archiv/denkmalschutz/objekte-unter-denkmalschutz/mitte/poolstrasse-11-14.html
(Sorry, it's only in german).
Some other fotos: http://www.bildarchiv-hamburg.de/hamburg/kirchen/synagoge_poolstrasse/index.htm
Thanks for the cache and merry christmas to all, Anette and Uwe

I found this synagogue in Stommeln near Cologne/Germany . It is difficult to see, because it is behind the house. The Synagogue was built in 1882.

Greetings
Thoto

[This entry was edited by Thoto on Sunday, December 25, 2005 at 1:02:19 AM.]

[This entry was edited by Thoto on Sunday, December 25, 2005 at 7:41:20 AM.]

We found this nice Synagogues in the Heart from the Kosovo. I found this during a 6-month time in kosovo
The taskforce who protect this, told me that is a old synagogues.

TFTC

Greets
Team Goldregen

[This entry was edited by Goldregen on Sunday, December 25, 2005 at 1:35:44 PM.]

The Historic Touro Synagogue is undergoing a huge restoration. Erected in 5603. They have also purchased a neighboring building for a "book" store with assorted other stuff.

We found it in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Neanderwolf und die Meute

Established in 1843 and built by 1870.
Natchez, MS

More information can be found here:

http://judaisme.sdv.fr/histoire/document/south/natchez.htm

This is the Temple Sinai of the first Hebrew congregation in Oakland, California.

The cornerstone of the current Temple building was laid October 26, 1913, dedicated September 13, 1914.

The Temple building survived the Loma Prieta earthquake of October 17, 1989 with minimal damage (plaster fell) in the Sanctuary.

The town Malmesbury is an agricultural centre for the grain producing industry near Cape Town, South Africa.
Fleeing from the Russo-Turko war of 1877, Jewish refugees also arrived in South Africa. In 1901 one such intrepid exile walked the 60 kilometers from Cape Town to Malmesbury where he settled and opened a shop.
In 1911 a synagogue was built.
In later years the once flourishing Jewish community declined in numbers in favour of city life.
Today the synagogue houses the Malmesbury museum.

This is the old synagogue in Stockholm. This buildning was used as the Stockholm Synagogue 1795-1870, its interior is partly presented. From 1870 to to 1890 it was used as a Seaman's church and after that until 1972 as a Police station. 1984 the house was rebuilt to offices and apartments. The two first floors still has its interior from the synagogue (it is a historical monument).

I recomend a visit when you are in Stockholm. This buildning is situated in the nice "Gamla stan" - Stockholms Old Town.

# 154.
The first synagogue in our city Veendam (Netherlands) was build in 1745. The synagogue has been renovated several times during the 18th and 19th century. At september the 2nd 1892 the last synagogue of Veendam was inaugurated, at that time the jewish community of Veendam-Wildervank counted 600 members. Just before World War II the community counted about 300 members. During the war many of our jewish citizens were deported and murdered in the gaschambers of Poland, only a few returned. The synagogue stood there dilapidated and finally after the war, while no-one took care of it, it was pulled down in 1947. When people during the fifties and sixties came to the understanding what disaster had happened to so many fellow-citizens and the need of a place to commemorate grew, at the location of the old synagogue a monument was build with some stones of the old synagogue and a white wall with all the names of the murdered jewish inhabitants of our city.
At the pictures you see the last synagogue of Veendam and what it looks like today.
More about the jewish community and its history you can find at http://www.jodeningroningen.nl/nl/joodsegemeentes/veendam/geschiedenisveendam (also available in English)
What really struck me today, when I was taking these photo's, was a boy of about 12 years old, that came to me and asked me what I was doing there. I was able to tell him about this special place; we walked along the wall with all those names in it, somes names of boys as old as he, and we talked about war, about the madness of it and I explained some inscripted words of the Tora to him. He told me about his grandfather who had been in a concentrationcamp also, but survived. Grandpa always had to cry, he told me, when he was talking about the war.
It was an impressing encouter, giving important lessons to a next generation, like it is written in Deuteronomium 11: 18-21.
Greetings from the Buterianen and thanks for this cache.

the Sephardic Synagogue in Nice, France. AKA the Association Cultuelle Israelite. My third cousin is a member and took me here for a tour, but the rabbi was sick and wouldn't let us in. My cousin says the synagogue was built around the turn of the 20th century.

Peace - Love - Fog

This is Singers Hill Synagogue in the centre of Birmingham, UK.
The synagogue, built in 1856, has been a place of worship for over 150 years and is called the "Cathedral" Synagogue of Birmingham. It is the earliest surviving large-scale ("Cathedral") synagogue in Britain.
The synagogue has its own dedicated [url=http://www.singershill.com/]web-site[/url]. The building also gets a mention in the Pevsner architectural guide, [url=http://www.lookingatbuildings.org.uk/default.asp?Document=3.B.2.4]here[/url].
I couldn't get inside to take photos, but there is a gallery of photos showing the [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/faith/places_of_worship/jewish/singers_hill/images/gallery/gallery1/3.shtml]interior[/url] on the BBC web-site.

I found this synagogue in Pfungstadt, Hesse, Germany. We know that jews lived in Pfungstadt since 1571. In 1819 the synagogue was built, later it had to be enlarged. In 1892 Chaim Weizmann, who was later to become the first president oft Israel, worked as a teacher in this synagogue. As many other synagogues in Germany it was destroyed in 1938, in the following yeras it served as storeroom. In 1992 the building was bought by the city of Pfungstadt who restaured both synagogue and the dwelling-house of the teachers. Nowadays the dwelling-house is used by the city archives, the synagogue ist useds for exhibitions and lectures.
For further information see www.synagoge-pfungstadt.de.

This is the replacement of the original synagoge of Muenster / Germany. The original building was destroyed during WW2 ...

Greetings
Schnueffelnasen

The Bikur Cholim Synagogue, 1912
104 17th Avenue, Seattle, Washington
An Official City of Seattle Landmark

The Bikur Cholim congregation can trace its Seattle origins back to the year 1891. In 1909, property was purchased to build a synagogue at 17th Avenue and Yesler Way. The architect B. Marcus Piteca, whose work includes Seattle's Coliseum, Orpheum, and Opera House, designed the synagogue. Services were conducted for several years in the vestry of the partially completed building. It was dedicated in 1915 and served as the home for Bikur Cholim for 60 years.

A Historylink.org website with more detailed information about the history of the Bikur Cholim congregation, including its move to the Seward Park neighborhood, can be found at: http://www.historylink.org/essays/output.cfm?file_id=299

Currently, the former Bikur Cholim synagogue is home to the Langston Hughes Cultural Arts Center, which has provided Seattle with culturally rich performing arts programs since 1972.

The following information about the history of Jewish immigration to the Seattle area was taken from another History.org webpage: "From 1890 until World War I, the Central Area was a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. The German Jews were hardware and grocery merchants who reached Seattle in the 1850s, settling eventually in the Central Area and on Capitol Hill. They built the Temple De Hirsch Sinai on 15th Avenue and Union Street in 1907, and offered monetary and social assistance to the Jews from Poland and the Mediterranean who arrived later on. The Polish Yiddish speaking Jews were the next wave of immigrants and they built kosher markets, Hebrew schools, and orthodox synagogues near and on Yesler Way. The last wave were the Spanish speaking Jews from Turkey and Rhodes. They added coffee shops and Mediterranean grocery stores to the area as well as their own orthodox synagogues."

Thank you for maintaining this historically intriguing locationless cache opportunity for the past three years.

I found this synagogue in town Zatec - Czech republic

This was an hard Job. If i saw this cache, i think there must be an Historic Synagogue in Solingen, but i can´t remember me that i ever saw one in my City. So i search more than two hours in Internet in realy i found some rare information.

There was an old Building in Solingen that was the "Historic Synagogue" near the Entrace is an official memory to the many victims at the building, over the Main Entrace is an stone board.

In this old Building is now an Gymnasium.

Greetings from Solingen

Ralf

PRINCES ROAD SYNAGOGUE, LIVERPOOL, UK

The Old Hebrew Congregation's Grade II* listed building (1874) with spectacular interior. Probably Europe's finest example of the Moorish Revival or Saracenic style of synagogue architecture. The Synagogue was designed by W and G Audsley of Liverpool. Built in 1874 of red sandstone and unpressed brick, the building impressively combines Gothic and Moorish architecture. The stepped gable surmounts a rose window flanked by octagonal turrets. The interior is rich in marble and gold and has a tunnel vaulted nave, a magnificent Byzantine style Ark of the Convenant and a columnated almemar.

Built in 1914, this Historic Site is no longer in use, but it is on the table for restoration.

This is the Maimonides-Zentrum in the 19. district of Vienna, which include the Rambam-Synagoge (pic inside: http://www.ikg-wien.at/static/unter/html/re/synas/rambam.htm)
Termite2712

Congregation Emanu-El was founded in 1916 in Mt. Vernon, NY to serve a growing Jewish community moving north from the Bronx and Manhattan. The building was renovated in 1956. It was a Conservative temple (more traditional than the Reform movement, but not as strictly traditional as an Orthodox synagogue).

Reflecting a shrinking congregation and changing demographics in the immediate vicinity, sometime in the early 2000s the remaining members were absorbed into another congregation in nearby Scarsdale, NY and the building was bought by the Friendship Worship Center, a predominantly African-American church, who uses the building today.

[This entry was edited by hairymon on Sunday, November 13, 2005 at 6:19:15 AM.]

[This entry was edited by hairymon on Sunday, November 13, 2005 at 6:20:30 AM.]

[This entry was edited by hairymon on Sunday, November 13, 2005 at 6:22:00 AM.]

I took a picture of a Synagogue which I have known for a long time: OHEL MOSHE - Oberrabbiner Abraham Y. Schwartz (1020 Wien, Lilienbrunngasse 19, Vienna, Austria)

Here is more information: http://www.kosherdelight.com/AustriaSynagogues.htm

Note: it is also possible to buy kosher food just across from the synagogue: http://www.ikg-wien.at/static/unter/html/gr/produkte.htm

From the outside it looks like an plain house, but the guard in front shows where the entrance is. Ever since the attack there is a guard in front. Because of the guard I was very nervous taking pictures of it.

The attack was some 20 years ago. I was in the house next to it at that time, leading a bible class for toddlers of a Christian group. When we heard the explosion, we had no idea what happened. We thought, it must have been a gas pipe exploding, since the houses there are so old and still have the old pipes in the walls. We left the building, all the classes with the children surprisingly calm, but the officers sent us back to the house where we had to stay for some hours. Later we were informed that an attack was happening against the synagogue next door.

Compared with the serious attack to the Synagogue in Judengasse - Seitenstättengasse, 1st District, that one was a minor one, none was killed or hurt seriously, some car windows were broken. http://www.wien-vienna.at/geschichte.php?ID=893

Beutelteufelweibchen

Found this Synagogue in Ballarat Victoria Australia and snapped the photos with the GPS. Many thanks baltimore bill & knitting ellen for the opportunity to log this find.

Kansas City, Missouri
B'nai Jehudah is the oldest Jewish congregation in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Its synagogue on Linwood Boulevard was dedicated on September 11, 1908. For almost a century the building has housed a rich tradition of service, initially as a house of worship, then a Masonic Temple, and currently as a community multi-services complex. The original structure has been renovated and a new wing has enlarged the facility, now known as the Linwood Multi-Purpose Center providing health, recreation, social and other services. In 2000, B'nai Jehudah dedicated a new chapel, religious school and assembly hall in Overland Park, Kansas.
More info can be found here http://www.nmajh.org/exhibitions/postcards/cards/22.htm

[This entry was edited by Russ and Dana on Friday, November 11, 2005 at 5:26:56 PM.]

This synagogue is located in downtown of Barcelona, in Catalonia, Spain.
The name of this sinagogue is: "la Sinagoga Mayor". It is to Marlet Street number 5.
The owner of this place not know his importance, used east place to keep electrical equipment. At the end of 1995 the owner put it for sale. The Association "Call of Barcelona", on the basis of studies of the medievalist historian Jaume Riera, decided to acquire it to recover it and to recover therefore the sinagogal space.
Greetings.

[This entry was edited by tecnics on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 at 12:48:50 PM.]

[This entry was edited by tecnics on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 at 12:52:14 PM.]

[8] 474
Location Sweden Stockholm. This synagogue was built in 1870 as sean by the picture.
Björn (tati)

The Tikvat Israel Synagogue was the first synagogue established in South Africa by the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation. The synagogue was built in the Neo-classical style in 1849 and consecrated on September 13, 1863. The western facade includes a six-column portico surmounting a gable with a Star of David in its center. The old synagogue building also houses today the Museum of the History of the Jewish People in South Africa, established in 1958 and contains as well an exhibition of Jewish ceremonial art.
The photographs show the western facade, which overlook Government Lane and The Company Gardens - the oldest formal garden in South Africa. The setting is spectacular. Feel free to read more about this beautiful structure at http://www.bh.org.il/Communities/Synagogue/CapeTown.asp and about the South African Jewish Museum at http://www.sajewishmuseum.co.za/

[This entry was edited by bear&fox on Thursday, October 27, 2005 at 10:00:07 AM.]

This is the Society Hill Synagogue in Philadelphia PA. It was built in 1830 and used as a Baptist Chruch for 81 years. In 1916 this building became the Great Romanian Synagogue (as is still inscribed in Yiddish over the entrance), home to one of the major Orthodox congregations of Philadelphia.

In 1967, this historic house of worship was acquired by Society Hill Synagogue, a small group of Conservative Jews who followed the call of Philadelphians seeking to restore the glory of Center City. The congregation reflects its Hebrew name, a combination of Ohr Hadash (new light) and Agudat Ahim (friendship circle). The synagogue brings new light in the form of creative worship and the equality of men and women in the religious and organizational life of the congregation, while preserving the basic content of traditional Jewish liturgy.

For more info, check out this [url=http://www.holyexperiment.org/pages/societyhill.html]webpage[/url].

We were caching in Myrtle Beach, SC when we saw the Beth El Synagogue. It's one of the oldest in the area. The congregation is one of three in Myrtle Beach and has about 150 members.

The synagogue in Greenville, Mississippi is one of the oldest houses of worship in the state. Originally built in 1880 and rebuilt in 1909.

Shalom.

The first synagogue building in Phoenix was the first Temple Beth Israel at 122 East Culver. I have found 2 dates of construction, 1920 and 1921. The facility functioned not only as a house of worship but as a community center and gathering place for the small Jewish population. The Culver Street synagogue was home to Temple Beth Israel from 1920-1949. It was recently purchased back from the baptist church it had become, and is undergoing renovation. It will serve as a Jewish Heritage Center, the Cutler Plotkin Jewish Heritage Center.

(Technically, this synagogue is just outside of the age range listed on the locationless cache page. However, the cache owner graciously allowed us to claim this given that it is the oldest in the city and close to the date cutoff.)

Synagogue Shaaré Tikvá was founded in 1904. It is the most important Jewish temple in Portugal.

Further info about the temple can be found [url=http://www.lisnagog.org/#ingles]here >>[/url].

It is a very beautiful building; unfortunately the location – amidst other building in the area - does not allow taking good pictures easily.

This Temple has been apart of Shreveport for a long time. A very impressive building. It's closed now. It would be great to see it open. TFTC

Crawfish & Family

Hello,

this Synagogues you can finde in Duisburg/Germany. The building is protekted by police. 24h a day.

The Synagogue has no homepage, i can give you only this information in german and some frome wikipedia.

http://www.nextroom.at/building_article.php?building_id=1819&article_id=4644
http://www.route-industriekultur.de/routen/01/01_18.htm

Information from Wikipedis.org (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duisburg#Post_war_period )

Post war period
A total of 299 bombing raids had almost completely destroyed the historic cityscape. 80% of all residential buildings had been destroyed or partly damaged. Almost the whole of the city had to be rebuilt, and most historic landmarks had been lost.

1983 1100 year anniversary

1989 Summer-Universiade in Duisburg.

1999 The new Jewish community center with a synagogue is opened.

2004 On 19 July Duisburg was hit by a tornado. The municipal theatre and parts of the city center were damaged.

2005 Duisburg hosts the 7th World Games.


Thank you for the Cache

Greetings from Germany, Carsten

[This entry was edited by casi69 on Saturday, October 08, 2005 at 2:37:26 AM.]

We found the old Beth Shalom Synagogue at 3400 Paseo Kansas City, Missouri.

Steve & Mary Brown
http://mysteve.com
Kansas City, MO
MOKan Geocaching Forum
http://mogeo.ipbhost.com/index.php

I found this one in the first district in Vienna, Austria.
It got to the news papers because there was an attac in front of the synagoque in August 1981. Read more (in german): http://www.wien-vienna.at/geschichte.php?ID=893
If you would like to see the inside of it, then go to: http://www.bda.at/bda/pressereferat/heritage_2005/wien/synagoge.htm

Beutelteufelweibchen

[This entry was edited by Beutelteufelweibchen on Saturday, October 01, 2005 at 2:53:07 PM.]

This is the Ballarat Synagogue in Victoria, Australia.
It's the oldest synagogue on the Australian mainland.
Situated on the Victorian goldfields, its importance was such that its first Rabbi was Av (head) of the first recognised Australian Beth Din.

more info here : http://www.ajhs.info/jha/sites.htm

This synagogue, or more precise the rest of the foundation walls became a memorial in 1982.
The synagogue was built in 1858 in Bad Salzuflen, Germany and was destroyed on 9.11.1938 by the Nazis.
At one picture you can see how the building looked like.
T*R*A*M

The Judaism had a hard time in Germany between 1933-1944. In the pogrom night from 9th to 10th November 1938 jewish books, houses, shops and synagogues were destroyed and burned.
You can not find a synagogue in the city of Bamberg in South Germany anymore, because the last one in this city was destroyed in that night, too.
It was located at that coordinates. As today you can find a memorial that remind to that synagogue. It is made out of the last stone of that building.
We know that you are looking for still existing buildings, but we think this is a good reminder to that bad time in German history that never should be forgotten.
Thx 4 the cache.

This is the B'er Chayim Temple located on Centre Street in Cumberland, Md. The B'er Chayim Congregation was chartered in 1853. In 1866 the Synagogue at Union and Centre Streets was completed. The building is constructed in a Greek Temple style and retains a simplicity of form and decoration that reflects the orthodoxy of the early congregation that built it.

B'er Chayim has been serving the community for over 150 years. At least one family has been a member since the founding congregation-6 generations have shared the joy of B'er Chayim. (info from the congregation web-site)

The temple is also on the National Registry of Historic Places, having been listed in 1979. The Inventory no. is AL-IV-A-110.

thanks for the cache, another great history lesson! julia

In Millstone Township, NJ, the Perrineville Jewish Chapel is the site cited. It is associated with the Perrineville Jewish Center. See the following link for a news article regarding the history of the Perrineville Jewish Center http://examiner.gmnews.com/news/2005/0525/Front_Page/005.html . Although the Jewish Center has been around since 1910, the center building has a date of 1926. However, the Perrineville Jewish Chapel (N 40 13.837 W 74 26.550)which is a few miles west of the Jewish Center is dated at 1910. It appears that the chapel is currently used as a funeral chapel. An interesting coincidence is that the current rabbi of the Jewish Center is the son of the rabbi who married my wife and me. He was the rabbi of the Maspeth Jewish Center.

BTW this was an enjoyable hunt. My father lives in Tucson, AZ and I wanted to use a Synagogue there (since Tucson is one of the oldest cities in AZ) but unfortuneately it was taken.

Thanks and Shalom!
Joel

This located on the north east of 5th and Daviess streets in Owensboro, Ky

This is the sign in front of the Temple Israel on Windermere Road, in London, Ontario. The actual synagogue can't be seen from the road at night. I didn't want to be running around private property in the dark!

Beth Israel Congregation, Stevens Point, WI. Like a lot of cities with a heavy Eastern European influence, in this case Polish, there was a well represented Jewish population, with up to 80 families attending. The synagogue was built in 1905 and was active into the early 80s when the remaining members could no longer maintain the site. It was given to the Portage County Historical Society, who operate it as a museum, including the intact artifacts.

I've known about this synagogue in the Kensington Neighbourhood, Toronto, for a long time. Have even been to a wedding here. It is the Keiver Synagogue on Denison Square, built in 1914; still used.

Hi, the building on the left side with the colourful enlightened windows is the former synagogue in Koblenz, Rhinelad-Palatinate, Germany. The building was enlightened for a special occasion tonight. It was used as a synagogue from 1851 until it was burned down in the 3rd reich on nov 9. 1938. After WW II it was built up again and is now used as the cities bibliotheque.
greets diezweifragezeichen

Where Jewish European/US history was shaken up by the wars of the 20th Century, to a certain degree, Australian Jewish history only began to flourish due to the effects of WWI and WWII.

The New Melbourne Synagogue celebrates 75 years in 2005, with the Melbourne Hebrew Congregation having been established in 1841.

Melbourne Synagogue http://www.melbournesynagogue.org.au
Jewish Monuments in Australia http://www.isjm.org/Links/australiamonuments.htm
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Completed as part of Partic's September Locationless Bonanza, successfully locating 21 unique locations in Melbourne.

Check the Melbourne Bonanza out on Google Earth http://www.kpsystems.com.au/geocaching/googleearth/locationless.kml

This is the Great Synangogue of Vilnius capital of Lithuania.
Located in Pylimo gatve (currently under restoration, not open for visitors, not yet in use; as of July 2005).
In the 19th century, Vilnius was known as the "Jerusalem of the North". It had close to 100 synagogues, "Schuls" and a very lively Jewish community.
During the Nazi time the Jewish population heavily decreased through expellation, deportation and murdering. During the Soviet era (1945-1991) religion was not a thing to talk much about and only after Lithuania's proclamation of independance in 1991, restoration of the city's former beauty has restarted.
Today, Vilnius again is a lively city of students and scholars with a very sympathetic flair of culture, great history and gentle anarchy.
Since 1 May 2004, Lithuania is a full member of the European Union and definitively worth a visit. (Same goes for Latvia and Estonia, the other Baltic states and former Soviet republics)