Dohány Synagogue

Frommer's Review

Built in 1859, this is Europe's largest synagogue and the world's second-largest synagogue. Budapest's Jewish community still uses it. The architecture has striking Byzantine and Moorish elements; the interior is vast and ornate, with two balconies and the unusual presence of an organ. An ambitious restoration was completed in recent years, funded in large part by a foundation set up by the American actor Tony Curtis, who is of Hungarian-Jewish descent. The building's original splendor is now apparent.

The synagogue has a rich but tragic history. Adolf Eichmann arrived with the occupying Nazi forces in March 1944 to supervise the establishment of the Jewish ghetto and the subsequent deportations. Up to 20,000 Jews took refuge inside the synagogue complex, but 7,000 did not survive the bleak winter of 1944-45. These victims are buried in the courtyard, where you can also see a piece of the original brick ghetto wall. The National Jewish Museum is inside the synagogue complex.

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