Old Synagogue and Jewish Museum

The Old Synagogue, Stari hram, stands at Velika avlija 2 in the Baščaršija quarter of Sarajevo, in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is the oldest surviving synagogue in the city and a monument to the Sephardic Jewish community that settled in Bosnia after being expelled from Spain in 1492 and welcomed by the Ottoman Empire. The first synagogue on this site is recorded in the 16th century, and the present building dates to 1821 after earlier fires and rebuilding. It served as a place of worship until the Second World War, when the community of the city, then numbering around ten thousand people, was devastated by the Nazi-aligned Ustaša regime and the Holocaust, and most of its members were killed. After the war, the building was converted into the Jewish Museum, which opened in the 1960s under the Yugoslav authorities. The museum is arranged thematically and chronologically over the prayer hall and gallery. It shows the history of Bosnian Jews, with ritual objects, Torah ornaments, textiles, documents, photographs and everyday items, along with panels on the Holocaust and the reconstruction of the community after 1945. The architecture is modest on the outside, but the interior has a high, bright central hall with a women's gallery, an ark and a bimah. The building was damaged in the 1990s siege, and the community later restored it. Visitors should note that it remains the property of the Jewish community, and that opening hours can vary, so checking in advance is advisable. The museum fits naturally into a walking tour of Sarajevo's religious diversity, together with the nearby Gazi Husrev-beg Mosque, the Catholic Cathedral and the Orthodox Cathedral.