Neolog Synagogue, Cluj-Napoca

The Neolog Synagogue stands in Cluj-Napoca at 21 Horea Street, on the north bank of the Someș, between the historic centre and the railway station. It is also known as the Memorial Temple of the Jewish Deportees. The Neolog Jewish community, made up mostly of intellectuals, split from the Orthodox community in 1881 under Rabbi Mátyás Eisler. The synagogue was built in 1886-1887 to plans by Isidor Hegner and inaugurated on 4 September 1887. It was badly damaged by members of the Iron Guard on 13 September 1927 and restored with government support. After the Second Vienna Award (1940) the Hungarian authorities turned it into a storehouse, and after the deportation of the Jews of Cluj to the Nazi camps it was damaged again on 2 June 1944, during the bombing of the nearby railway station. It was rebuilt in 1947 and fully restored in 1951, and since then it has been dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Holocaust. The Moorish-style façade combines traditional elements with oriental ones; the richly decorated cornice ends at the corners in four small oriental turrets. The interior was entirely rebuilt in a neoclassical-to-modern style. Memorial plaques are fixed to the building. It can be seen from Horea Street, about a 10-minute walk from Unirii Square. According to the president of the Cluj Jewish community (2020), the synagogue is generally closed to the public because there is no guard; visits inside take place during events or by arrangement with the community. The synagogue is a historic monument, code CJ-IV-m-B-07837 (Memorial temple of the Jewish deportees, 21-23 Horea Street), and belongs to the Jewish community of Cluj, a member of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Romania. Did you know that the synagogue was designed by a railway engineer, Isidor Hegner?