Tourist Attraction in Rijeka:
The Orthodox Synagogue

The Orthodox Synagogue of Rijeka was built in 1928 (when Rijeka was part of Italy), in a modern style and is one of the very few synagogues in the Croatian territory to have survived the destruction of the Nazi period. It is located on Ivan Filipovic Street (opposite the Faculty of Economics) in Rijeka in Croatia. The small Orthodox synagogue of Rijeka was built in 1928 to meet the needs of the Orthodox Jews who were in minority in Rijeka against the large Jewish community, which gathered in the majestic Great Synagogue of Rijeka (built in 1903 and destroyed by the Nazis in 1944) . The project was entrusted to the architects Gyozo Angyal and Pietro Fabbro. With the Genoa synagogue it is one of only two examples of modern-style synagogue built in Italy during the fascist period. The synagogue has a simple tripartite façade with a central body in red brick and stone slabs with two gates (one of which under a portico leads directly to the matroneo) and two small windows with an ornamental appeal to the Star of David. The interior has a unique room with a raised balcony of the women's gallery that overlooks the entrance. The sumptuous marble tabernacle in Italian style containing the holy ark with the books of the Torah was a gift in 1934 of the Triesteese Jews to the confreres from Rijeka (until then adorned the great Schola in the square of the Jewish schools in Trieste). The Orthodox Synagogue of Rijeka is one of the very few synagogues in the Croatian territory to have survived the destruction of the Holocaust. The temple remained standing, because during the Nazi occupation it was used as a munitions depot, while the great synagogue of Rijeka was destroyed on January 25, 1944. After the war the small Orthodox synagogue could thus accommodate the few surviving Rijeka Jews of that which until a few years ago was a thriving community of over 2000 members. The Orthodox synagogue became a nationalized property on December 5, 1956. In 1996 it was declared a monument of historical and cultural interest in the city. In 2005-2008 it was the subject of important restoration work. The small community of Fiume (now reduced to a hundred members) uses it today for the main festivals with the assistance of the neighboring communities of Trieste and Zagreb.

Attractions in Rijeka