World Monuments Fund Jewish Heritage Grant Program
The name of the Project: Conservation and full Restoration of the monument
of architecture and town planning of XVIII century, complex of buildings
of White Stone Synagogue in Stolin, Brest Region, Belarus.
Application
For getting Grant for conservation and full restoration of the monument
of architecture and town-planning of XVIII century, complex of buildings
of White Stone Synagogue in Stolin, Brest Region, Belarus.
The money in need:
The organization: Judaic Religious Community of Stolin.
The chairman: Michael Chernyavski.
Address: Dzerzhinski Street, 106-5
225510, Stolin
Brest Region
Belarus
Telephone:+375-01655-22046
E-mail: stolinaid@hotmail.com
The date and the place of registration: resolution №472 from September,
13, 1999, Executive Committee of Brest Region, Belarus.
The term of fulfilment of the Project:
I, Michael Chernyavski, the manager of the Project, guarantee that this
sum of money will be used for realization of the Project.
March, 07, 2002. _______________________(M.Chernyavski)
General Description of the Monument
In XVIII century Stolin became the center of Hassidim in the region. The
list of Jewish synagogues and Prayer Houses of Pinsk District of 1863
indicative of the fact that "…in a small town of Stolin the Stone
Synagogue was built in 1790…there are 4 Prayer Houses - schools "Bes-Hamedrash"
there…"
The yard where the Synagogue was situated was (could be at present time)
the center of religious and public life of Jewish Community of Stolin.
The territory around the Synagogue was occupied by religious and public
buildings of Jewish Community of Stolin.
Now one can see saved:
- White Stone Synagogue in Telman Street;
- The ground floor of Jewish School "Bes-Hamedrash" in Telman
Street;
The complex of buildings is a monument of architecture of XVIII-XIX centuries.
It is situated in the center of the town, in the block of historical building.
The surrounding territory requires equipping with services and utilities.
The most significant building is the Synagogue.
The Stone building had no heating and the prayers were held in warm prayer-rooms.
White Stone Synagogue. (XVIII).
The architectural-spatial composition of the building of Stolin Synagogue
satisfies the requirements of synagogue building of Rech Pospolita in
XVII-XVIII centuries. It has typical compactness and the shape of a square
with cut off corners. The roof was high and had the shape of an attic.
The fronts of the synagogue are divided into two tiers by horizontal cornices.
Western and Eastern fronts have pilasters between the windows of the first
floor. Decorum of the fronts of the synagogue is modest as a rule.
The right-angled building at the ground level is divided into entrance
hall and square prayer-hall for men by the wall. Over the entrance hall
here is a gallery as a place for women to pray. There are stairs from
the entrance hall to that gallery.
The central place of the building is a hall for men to pray. The main
compositional elements of the hall are bima and Aaron-Kodesh which are
on the same line from the entrance.
Bima or almemor have the form of polygon and are situated in the center
of the hall. They tracery fenced in.
In side and outside the building is decorated with cornices, pilasters,
rods and so on. The wall surface inside has ornamental paintings and is
decorated with stucco moulding.
The space of the main prayer hall is divided by two rows of stone arcades
on stone columns into a central nave with cylindrical vault at the top
and two side naves with plane covering over wooden beams. Lateral and
back fronts have a row of windows.
The two-storied building of Stolin synagogue was built according to the
traditional standards of synagogue building of that time. The building
was divided into two unequal parts. The central part or nave was wider
than the lateral ones.
Stolin Synagogue was built in traditions of late baroque with the elements
of classicism.
White Stone Synagogue of Stolin is a unique monument of synagogue architecture
of XVIII century saved on the territory of Belarus.
The building is in dissatisfy field conditions nowadays. It was almost
completely destroyed and requires serious restoration and rebuilding.
"Bes-Hamedrash". (XIX).
An architectural monument of XIX century, Telman Street, 3.
The upper floor of the building has almost been lost. But there is possibility
to restore the building using the archive papers of Brest State Region
Archive. The basement of the building has the shape of a square divided
into two parts with brick roofing.
The building is in dissatisfied conditions. It requires complete restoration.
The Territory of the Monument.
The complex of buildings is a monument of architecture of XVIII-XIX centuries.
It is situated in the centre of the town, in the block of historical building.
The block of town-planning occupied by the complex of White Stone Synagogue
of Stolin is a result of economic organizations activities in post-war
time. The territory requires equipping with services and utilities.
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