Tempel Synagogue, Kraków

The Tempel Synagogue at twenty-four Miodowa Street is distinguished by its Moorish Revival façade, featuring horseshoe-arched windows and a superstructure of glazed tiles. Completed in eighteen sixty-two, it was built for the city’s Progressive Jewish congregation, a group that sought to modernize religious life by introducing sermons in Polish and German, organ music, and mixed seating for men and women. These innovations caused scandal among the neighboring Orthodox community, who favored traditional practices.