General Information

The Izaak (or Isaac) Synagogue, a prayer house built in 1644 in Kazimierz, was named after its founder, Izaak Jakubowicz, a banker to King Władysław IV. The early Baroque building is considered the most architecturally important of the old synagogues of Krakow. The place is also known for the legend associated with it.

The Legend: Highlights

According to the legend deriving from the Tales of 1001 Nights, Ayzik Jakubowicz, a pious but poor Jew, dreamt that there was a treasure hidden under an old bridge in Prague. Without delay, he made his way there…

The Legend: Explained

On arrival, it turned out that the bridge was guarded by a squad of soldiers and that digging was out of the question. Ayzik told the officer about his dream, promising him half of the booty. The officer replied saying that only fools like Polish Jews can possibly believe in dreams and that for several nights he has been dreaming that in the Jewish town of Kazimierz there is a hidden treasure in the oven of the home of a poor Jew, Ayzik Jakubowicz. Then, he asked him if Ayzik thought he was so stupid as to go all the way to Krakow and look for the house of this Isaac, son of Jacob. Ayzik returned home immediately, took the oven apart, found the treasure and became rich. After this he would say that there were some things for which you could search the whole world, only to find them in your own home. Before you realise this, however, you very often have to go on a long journey and search far and wide.

Architecture: Highlights

The synagogue was designed by Francesco Olivierri, an Italian working in Poland at that time. The interior walls of the early Baroque building are embellished with painted prayers, visible after conservation removed covering layers of paint. The vaulted ceiling is embellished with Baroque plasterwork wreaths and garlands.

Architecture: Explained

Before the Nazi occupation of Poland, the synagogue boasted a widely admired, wooden, Baroque Aron Kodesh. When the building was planned, the design was considered by some diocesan officials to be too beautiful for Jews to have, which led to delays in the synagogue’s construction. The women’s gallery and exterior stairs leading to it are a later addition to the building.

History: Highlights

On 5 December 1939, the Gestapo came to the synagogue building and ordered Maximilian Redlich, the Jewish official on duty that day, to burn the scrolls of the Torah. When Redlich refused he was shot dead. The Nazis destroyed the interior and furnishings, including the bimah and Aron Kodesh.

History: Explained

After the war, the building was used as a sculpture and conservation atelier and then by a theatre company as workshop space and for the storage of props. Until recently it was an exhibition space. A fire in 1981 damaged the interior. Renovation was begun in 1983 and in 1989, with the fall of communism in Poland, the building was returned to the Jewish community. It is now a practicing Orthodox Synagogue once again.