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Obj. ID: 8855
Jewish Architecture
  White Synagogue in Joniškis, Lithuania

© Joniškis History and Culture Archives, Photographer: Unknown, 2017

The White Synagogue was built in 1864–65. It is a high brick structure, covered with a tin plastered roof. Its rectangular ground plan integrated a spacious prayer hall on the eastern side and a vestibule with a staircase leading to the upper floor women’s section on the western side. As can be seen from the interwar photographs, all the façades were symmetrical, similarly designed, plastered and whitewashed. Lesenes, decorated by sunken panels and small paterae, divided the longitudinal and latitudinal facades into six and four bays respectively. The façades were crowned with a dentiled cornice, and curtain-shaped four-bay gables rose above it. The tall round-headed windows under semicircular pediments were placed high above the ground level. The western and eastern gables had two tiers. Two central bays on the lower tier were pierced by the round-headed windows under semicircular pediments, and its lateral bays, as well as the upper tier, were pierced by biforia windows supplied with coupled semicircular pediments and blind oculi. Square turrets terminated every lesene and enhanced the skyline of the synagogue. The southern and northern gables were single-tier, with similar large windows in the central bays, and oculi in the lateral ones.

In the interior, the synagogue was spanned with a wooden barrel vault,29 and probably lit by twelve windows. The style of the synagogue shows the lasting impact of Baroque architecture well into the second half of the 19th century.

The regularity of the façades hides the internal divisions and the two-storey structure of the western part. The round-headed arches testify to the impact of Neo-Classicism and the Rundbogen style. The biforia windows may be a reference to the Tablets of the Law.

After WWII the synagogue was turned into a storage and later a gym; its layout and façades were altered, and the interior was destroyed. Many windows were blocked, pediments removed, and the northern and southern gables pulled down. A two-storey silicate brick addition was attached to the western façade in 1964; it was demolished in the 1990s. In 2001 upon the initiatives of the Department of Cultural Heritage Protection and theJoniškisDistrictMunicipality, architect Saulutė Domanskienė prepared a project for the conservation and urgent repair of the building. Conservation works started in 2002, with the aim of adapting the building to the needs of theJoniškisRegionalMuseum. The roof was replaced and covered with new tin, and the side gables were reconstructed in their original shape.

Summary and Remarks
Remarks

111 image(s)

sub-set tree:

Name/Title
White Synagogue in Joniškis | Unknown
Object Detail
Monument Setting
Unknown
Date
1864-1865
Synagogue active dates
Reconstruction dates
1945, 1964, 2002, 2016
Artist/ Maker
Domanskienė, Saulutė (architect)
|author of reconstruction design in 2001
Historical Origin
Unknown
Community type
Congregation
Unknown
Site
Unknown
Period Detail
Collection
Unknown |
Documentation / Research project
Unknown
Iconographical Subject
Unknown |
Textual Content
Unknown |
Languages of inscription
Unknown
Shape / Form
Unknown
Material / Technique
Material Stucture
Material Decoration
Material Bonding
Material Inscription
Material Additions
Material Cloth
Material Lining
Tesserae Arrangement
Density
Colors
Construction material
Brick
Measurements
Height
Length
Width
Depth
Circumference
Thickness
Diameter
Weight
Axis
Panel Measurements
Condition
Extant
Documented by CJA
Surveyed by CJA
Present Usage
Cultural center
Present Usage Details
Condition of Building Fabric
B (Fair)
Architectural Significance type
Historical significance: Event/Period
Historical significance: Collective Memory/Folklore
Historical significance: Person
Architectural Significance: Style
Architectural Significance: Artistic Decoration
Urban significance
Part of synagogue compound (shulhoyf)
Significance Rating
3 (National)
0
Ornamentation
Custom
Contents
Codicology
Scribes
Script
Number of Lines
Ruling
Pricking
Quires
Catchwords
Hebrew Numeration
Blank Leaves
Direction/Location
Façade (main)
Endivances
Location of Torah Ark
Location of Apse
Location of Niche
Location of Reader's Desk
Location of Platform
Temp: Architecture Axis
Arrangement of Seats
Location of Women's Section
Direction Prayer
Direction Toward Jerusalem
East
Coin
Coin Series
Coin Ruler
Coin Year
Denomination
Signature
Colophon
Scribal Notes
Watermark
Hallmark
Group
Group
Group
Group
Group
Trade Mark
Binding
Decoration Program
Suggested Reconsdivuction
History/Provenance
Main Surveys & Excavations
Sources

Cohen-Mushlin, Aliza, Sergey Kravtsov, Vladimir Levin, Giedrė Mickūnaitė, Jurgita Šiaučiūnaitė-Verbickienė (eds.), Synagogues in Lithuania. A Catalogue, 2 vols. (Vilnius: VIlnius Academy of Art Press, 2010-12)
http://jewish-heritage-europe.eu/2017/06/26/lithuania-joniskis-white-synagogue-reopens-unique-jewish-heritage-complex-restored; Joniškio kraštas: enciklopedinis žinynas/ sudarytojas ir ats. redaktorius Vytautas Didžpetris; redakcinė kolegija: Kazimieras Garšva... [et al.]. - Kaunas: Žiemgalos leidykla, 2011. p. 71.
Type
Documenter
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Author of description
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Architectural Drawings
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Computer Reconstruction
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Section Head
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Language Editor
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Donor
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Negative/Photo. No.
The following information on this monument will be completed:
Unknown |