ROMANIA – Medias synagogue coming slowly back to life

Medias synagogue, interior. Photo © Yoraan Rafael Reuben

Built in around 1897, the synagogue of Medias can seat about 1,000 — but only a few Jews remain in the town today and for years the building has remained empty and disused, in deteriorating condition. 

Thanks to a grant for archival preservation, a volunteer clean-up operation, and a series of scheduled cultural and religious events, the synagogue in Medias in Romania is slowly coming back to life. The project has received funds from an anonymous donor through the Mihai Eminescu Trust.

Project manager Anda Reuben writes:

The plan is to renovate the synagogue and to turn it into a cultural center and a museum of the Jews in Medias, to create a public, multifunctional space in the former community office building and the courtyard next to the synagogue. Just imagine tourists and locals enjoying their coffee and home-made Jewish pastries, looking over the charming garden and the newly restored synagogue where a permanent exhibition about Medias Jews tells the story of a thriving community in peaceful, multi-ethnic Medias!

Read the full story here. Story via Jewish Heritage Europe.