The first thing to explain while discussing this synagogue is the origin of its undoubtedly intriguing name (‘kupa’ means ‘poo’ in Polish). This temple wasn’t founded by a single person by rather by the Jewish community – so called kahał. The word kupa itself means treasury – in this particular case the treasury of the community that paid for the construction. The street next to the synagogue bears the same name.
The building was erected in the 4th decade of the 17th century – in the archives there’s a note of 400 zlotys being donated towards this purpose by the Jewish goldsmiths’ guild. The temple was situated by the northern part of the Kazimierz’s city wall (between Jakuba St. and Nowy Square), small fragment of that wall has been preserved to this day.
The synagogue’s current look is the result of many modernisations carried out throughout centuries. The interwar period paintings adorning the interior of the men’s hall are an interesting sight – scenes such as the Deluge, Jerusalem, exiled Jews in Babylon are all here. The hall’s ceiling is covered in geometrical patterns surrounding 12 medallions depicting biblical motives such as musical instruments from the Jerusalem Temple, city panoramas of Haifa, Hebron, Tiberias and Jaffa or symbolical images of Mamre, the Deluge and the Western Wall. Similar paintings were created in other synagogues of Kraków at the time, but they weren’t preserved to our times which makes Kupa an exceptional testament to 20th century Jewish art.
During the World War II the synagogue was devastated – the worst damage was suffered by the interior. After the war the building served various purposes – for some time it was matzo bakery (1946-47), later it became a ritual slaughterhouse for poultry and remained as such until the death of mohel Abraham Lesman in 1985. After that it was taken over by a leatherworkers collective, but finally, at the crossing of 2000 and 2001, came back to the Jewish community and has been in its care ever since. The synagogue was renovated. Some elements of the interior were reconstructed – the bima and the Torah Ark among others are restored.
The zodiac signs adorning women’s balcony are quite a curiosity – they depict human figures which is absolutely extraordinary when it comes to synagogue interior design. Kupa is one of the two active synagogues in Kazimierz (the other one being Remuh Synagogue).
We’d like to invite you to see Kazimierz and Kupa Synagogue with a qualified city guide.