SPOŁECZNE ZAKORZENIENIE ARCHITEKTURY NA PRZYKŁADZIE XVII-WIECZNEJ SYNAGOGI W ZAMOŚCIU

Abstract

ABSTRACT

Argument. The aim of the article is to show the social roots of synagogue architecture on the example of the 17th century synagogue in Zamość. The analysis is an attempt to show the relationship between the location of the structure in the urban structure and the experiences of minorities, the history of the community and the Jewish community in the city.

Concepts discussed. Due to the nature of the topic, the analysis was based on research on archival materials, which is the basic method of work within the art history discipline. In addition to studying the inventory materials and the object itself, the content of the article refers to the theses of the most important researchers and researchers of synagogue architecture and town planning in Poland: E. Bergman, J. Jagielski, A. Łupienko, A. Zabłocka-Kos, K. Matyjaszka, M. and K. Piechotka.

Results and conclusions. The analysis revealed that the previous interpretations of the style of the synagogue in Zamość as Sephardic were incorrect. It is concluded that the model was - apart from earlier synagogues, which used the centralization of the main prayer hall and a similar layout - of church architecture from the area of the Zamość Estate. This is evidenced by the implication of the detail used within the Kalisz-Lublin type. This thread also emerges as a new research problem, which, so far, has not been described in the context of Judaism's architecture.

At the same time, it points to the broad social context in which there is pre-reform synagogue architecture. The turn of the 16th and 17th centuries was the time of creating new forms in the area of Jewish construction in Poland and the so-called Golden Age of Polish Jews. This is the reverse of the Western European countries, from which the Jewish community was displaced and construction development was halted.

The cognitive value of the approach. The greatest value is the original, not yet undertaken attempt to implement a critical discourse in the face of the strongly widespread theory of the continuity of the Spanish tradition within the architecture of synagogues. At the same time, the article presents a methodological directive under which it is assumed that in the history of architecture the priority is not only to take into account ergonomics, but also to the socio-cultural conditions in which a building exists. This means the need for an interdisciplinary analysis of the work of art, which takes into account not only the description of the form, but also the interpretation of the meaning metaphorically "carried" by the realized object.

Keywords: architecture, synagogues, urban sociology, Zamość, renaissance, eastern Poland