Sarajevo Synagogue

Sarajevo Synagogue is Sarajevo's primary and largest synagogue and is located on the south bank of the river Miljacka. It was constructed in 1902 and remains the only functioning synagogue in Sarajevo today.

The community built a synagogue in El Cortijo in 1580 with the help of a Turkish benefactor, in a building called Velika Avlija, which became known as old Jewish Cathedral, Sarajevo's first synanogue.  

The building burned down in both 1679 and 1778, and was rebuilt each time. With enormous arches with richly-painted decorations it now serves as a Jewish museum. 

Today, there are only 700 Jews left in Sarajevo, out of a total population of 400,000.  The community is not particularly religious, but a rabbi comes in from Israel when needed.  They do, in fact, hold Friday night services, and also celebrate all the Jewish holidays.

The bare stone walls and timber floors of this museum, located in a Sarajevo synagogue built in 1581, provide an aesthetically pleasing space for a small but well designed and laid out museum dedicated to the city’s long Jewish history. 

The city became a major crossroads in the Balkans for Jewish life, and came to be known as Little Jerusalem.