Obj. ID: 5466
Jewish Architecture Synagogue in Mediaș - Prayer hall
To the main object: Synagogue in Mediaș, Romania
The prayer hall is spanned by a barrel vault. The vault is framed by a decorative band on its perimeter (seen mainly from the women’s gallery). Stylized trees are grow from the band above each window. The central part of the vault is decorated with blue circles with radiating branches and leaves. In each circle, a large Magen David is depicted, surrounded by six-pointed stars. The section of the vault above the western women’s gallery is not decorated.
The eastern wall of the prayer hall is painted as a starry blue sky with stars. A wooden Torah ark is situated in the center. It has a form of a portal and is surmounted by the Tablets of the Law and an oculus. The gable of the ark is flanked by painting of lions, looking towards the center of the wall. Behind each lion, a stylized palm tree, bending towards the center, is depicted. The lower part of the ark is flanked by the depictions of two large seven-branched menorot.
Two identical sets of pictures appear in the lower tier of the walls. They start on the eastern wall with paintings of Magen David and the Crown of the Torah. The first pier of the northern/southern wall has a “triptych” of two seven-branched menorot and the tablets of the Law, inscribed נר מצוה ותורה אור (“For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light,” Prov. 6: 23). The second pier of the northern/southern wall has a “diptych” of two eternal lights, inscribed שמור נרי ואני אשמור נרך (Midrash Tehilim, 18). The western pier of the northern/southern wall also has a “diptych”: a goblet is inscribed כוס ישועות אשא (“I will take the cup of salvation,” Ps. 116:13); a laver is inscribed ארחץ בנקיון כפי (“I will wash my hands in innocence,” Ps. 26:6). The last pictures of the set appears on the western wall: there are two identical but mirrored depictions of the Western Wall in Jerusalem appear; each one is inscribed כותל מערבי (The Western Wall).
The entrance door in the center of the western wall is flanked by two identical but mirrored depictions of a shofar with an olive branch, inscribed תקע בשופר גדול לחרותנו (“Sound the great shofar for our freedom,” The Amidah Prayer).
For the women's section see:
