Great Synagogue

About Great Synagogue

The Great Synagogue (Sinagoga Mare), on Strada Vasile Adamache, was built in 1845–1846 by the community of Ashkenazi Jews who had come from Poland, which is why it was first called the Polish Synagogue. It got the name “Great” because for a long time it was the largest house of prayer of the Jews of Bucharest. Services followed the Neolog rite, with a choir and an organ. The building was repaired in 1865, remodelled in 1903 by the architect Stomer and altered around the Ark in 1909 under Petre Antonescu; in 1936 the hall was repainted in Rococo style by Ghershon Horowitz.

After the earthquake of November 1940 and the devastation by the Legionaries in January 1941, the synagogue was repaired in 1945 and consolidated in 1980. In the 1980s, the blocks of flats built in the area hid it almost completely from the street. Today it is no longer used for regular services, and since the 1990s it has housed the permanent exhibition dedicated to the Jewish martyrs and to the Holocaust in Romania.

Information verified on 26 October 2026.

Good to know before you go

Getting there

By car: the synagogue is in the Piața Unirii area, on Strada Vasile Adamache, ~500 m from the Choral Temple, another Jewish place of worship in the district. The area is busy, so the easiest option is to leave the car in a nearby car park and walk the last stretch.

Public transport: by metro to Piața Unirii station, then a few minutes on foot, or by the buses and trams that run through the centre.

Where to park

The centre of Bucharest has paid street parking and nearby car parks; check the markings and the rate where you stop.

Rules

A place of memory and of worship: decent dress, a low voice, and the objects, panels and decoration are not to be touched. Photography inside is done with respect for the place and the exhibits.