Tarnogród - Synagogue (3 Kosciuszki St.)

Synagogue (3 Kosciuszko Street) - The first wooden synagogue was built perhaps ca. 1580 r., certainly before 1627., at the southeast corner of the market square, within the emerging Jewish quarter, along with the entire synagogue complex. It was most likely destroyed by Khmelnytsky's Cossacks (1648) or burned down in 1683. In a fire that consumed much of the city. A makeshift beit ha-midrash was then built, in 1686. while by virtue of the privilege of Ordynat Marcin Zamoyski a new brick synagogue was erected in the Baroque style.The brick building, with a spacious body, is oriented. It consisted of a main prayer hall, which was entered through a vestibule located to the west.The original design and location of the babynets is not known.Later, a one-story babiniec was added to the north side. In the 19th century. A one-story annex was added to the front across the width of the building, which housed a staircase and a second floor granary, connected to the main hall by an arcade. At the same time, the facades of the building gained classical features, and the shape of the roof was changed.The prayer hall, on a near-square plan, is lowered to ground level. It is covered by a vast nine-panel vault, supported by four pillars, between which there was originally a bimah.A polychrome stone aron ha-kodesh setting has been preserved on the eastern wall. The synagogue was destroyed during World War II by the Germans.The devastated building was used as a stable, and the northern annex, which housed the babiniec, was demolished. In the post-war period, it underwent progressive devastation, serving as a warehouse for the Communal Cooperative.In 1985-1990, the building was extensively renovated for use as a library and community center. It also houses a regional memorial chamber.