1 - Honchar (Potter's) Tower.
2 - Tailors’ or Artisans (Remisnycha) Synagogue
3 - Alter Shul
4 - Smotrych Bet Midrash
5 - Shelter for the Poor
Honchar Tower, and site of Shulgas
(Synagogue Street)
Kamenets’ Jerusalem "Кам'янецькій Ієрусалимці"
Little remains of the once large and bustling Jewish centre of religious life in Kamenets (locally called by non Jews Kamenets’ Jerusalem). At one time Synagogue Street in Kamenets was the heart of a substantial religious and communal centre; with its synagogues, Batei Midrash and community space; catering both for the religious and physical needs of Jewish people within the city and those, with their own local ‘satellite’ prayer halls, in the suburbs and townships adjacent to the old city. The first mention of a synagogue in the old town of Kamenets suggests it was built in the late 1600’s during the Turkish occupation. It is likely that this was on or near the site of the Old Great Synagogue - see ‘Smotrych Beth Midrash’ below [1]. Today there are very few remains of the synagogue complex other than the Tailors Synagogue exterior and boundary roads.Gros Snayders Shul (Great Tailors’ Synagogue
Smotrych Beth Midrash On the west side near the Great Old Synagogue was the Smotrych Beth Midrash (study hall) and shelter. It was a one-storey stone building with an additional wooden mezzanine floor. It is suggested that from the from the ancient construction and, by the late 19th century, the dilapidation of the building it is assumed that this was the oldest synagogue, built in the city after 1672.Synagogue of the Covenant and Zinkovskaya Synagogue
North of the Gros Alter Shul (Great Old Synagogue ) was the two-storey stone building Sandehurskoyi Synagogue built in the mid 19th century for 500 worshippers with adjacent school buildings. It was known as the Synagogue of the Covenant (Sandehurska Holohorskoho) . Nearby and to the south of the Gros Alter Shul was the Shoemakers’ Synagogue. A characteristic feature of the construction was a door opening onto a footpath (known as the Jewish Path) within the city fortifications, this path led down to a house on the river bank where the Beth Midrash of the Kovea Itim le-Torah (that is regular study of the Torah) was located.
The Great Tailors’ Synagogue, Honchar Tower,
Great Old Synagogue and religious complex
(magnified) circa 1910
[1] Shtetl . Literary collection . - Khmelnitsky , 2003. - Vyp.Z. - p.36 (published in Russian)
Old Jewish district of Kamenetz -Podolsk Hanna Kivilsha
[2] Kaminits-Podolsk and its Environs Randolph. Ed Abraham Rosen and others. From the Past by Y.Bernstein. Published by the
Avotaynu Foundation Inc Bergenfield NJ 1999.
French Map of 1691
The Great Tailors’ Synagogue (Реміснича [Remisnycha] синагога), located on Purlasky
Street, was built in the second half of the 19th century and was first mentioned in the
Kamenets town plan of 1872. The synagogue is described as having been built in an
eclectic style, which was popular at the time, with a combination of Renaissance and
Baroque elements. It was described as ‘the most beautiful synagogue of the city’ [2].
The Gros Alter Shul (Great Old Synagogue)
This synagogue, which could accommodate for 300 worshippers, was built in the baroque style and appears on the ‘Kamenets-Podolsk’ city plan of 1808, having been constructed of stone in the second half of the 18th century. In 1886 this synagogue was enlarged. Research suggest that it is likely that simultaneously with the construction of Great Synagogue a mikva was built in the river valley below. The architecture of both buildings took a similar form.
The former Synagogue Street and
Purlasky Street in 2009
Click on photo to enlarge
Gros Alter Shul
Covenant & Shoemakers’ Synagogues
Gros Snayders Shul
Shelter for the Poor
Smotrych Beth
Midrash
The Shulgas Area "Кам'янецькій Ієрусалимці"
Compiled by Martin Davis © 2010- 2015
