The Church of Santo Estevo de Pousada (Spain) and the Great Synagogue in Orla (Poland) among the 14 shortlisted sites of the 7 Most Endangered 2025

The Church of Santo Estevo de Pousada (Spain) and the Great Synagogue in Orla (Poland) among the 14 shortlisted sites of the 7 Most Endangered 2025

From the FRH network, we are pleased to announce that the Church of Santo Estevo de Pousada (Spain) and the Great Synagogue in Orla (Poland), the two religious heritage sites we nominated to the 7 Most Endangered Programme 2025, are among the 14 shortlisted monuments and sites.

The shortlist for this edition was announced today by Europa Nostra, Europe’s leading civil society network dedicated to heritage, and the Institute of the European Investment Bank (EIB). Since its launch in 2013, this annual programme has become a leading civil society initiative dedicated to safeguarding Europe’s endangered heritage, acting as advocate and catalyst for rallying the necessary public and private support, including funding.

While the final list of 7 Most Endangered heritage sites in Europe for 2025 will be unveiled in April, at FRH we believe that the shortlisting of the Church of Santo Estevo de Pousada these two sites is already a step forward to raise awareness, inspire action, and activate new mechanisms to secure the future of these cultural landmarks.

These are the 14 most threatened monuments and heritage sites in Europe preselected for 2025:

Great Synagogue in Orla (Poland)

Located in Orla, a village in Bielsk county on the eastern border of Poland, with Belarus, the Great Synagogue was founded in the second half of the 17th century. The building’s interior reflected Baroque and Renaissance influences, and its most distinctive feature used to be the Torah ark.

The survival of the building to the present-day bears witness to the high status held by the local Jewish community. Until the mid-20th century, the synagogue was one of the few stone buildings in Orla. Archaeological research revealed the existence of a small wooden synagogue in the same place. In the 18th century, women’s galleries were added on each side of the building: wooden at first, and then made of brick. In the 19th century, the building was given a classical façade with a frieze resting on two columns.

For centuries, the synagogue represented the heart of Jewish life in Orla and was respected by Jews and non-Jews alike.

Photo: Krzysztof Bielawski.

In the spring of 1942 a cruel fate befell the Jewish communities in the territories occupied by the Third Reich: they were forcibly moved into a ghetto and, later the same year, transported to Treblinka extermination camp where most of the community was murdered. As a result of the Holocaust, the building of the synagogue in Orla served as a storehouse for property stolen by the German soldiers from the Jewish population and the ark was destroyed.

Many furnishings of the Great Synagogue in Orla have not survived. Nevertheless, preserved to this day are remnants of colourful polychrome wall paintings with vegetal and animal motifs, as well as four columns surrounding the place where the bimah stood. Although this fine example of Jewish heritage has survived the turmoil of wars, it still awaits full scale repair after incomplete renovation work in the 1980s. The local funding capacity is clearly insufficient for that. The building is not used anymore as a synagogue, and the structure suffers from a state of decay and structural deterioration which calls for a rather full restoration. The Great Synagogue in Orla is a symbol of the problem of the heritage without heirs that the Holocaust left in Poland.

The Great Synagogue in Orla is owned by the Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland, which aims to create a cultural and educational centre in the building after its full renovation.

The nomination of the Great Synagogue in Orla to the 7 Most Endangered Programme 2025 was made by Future for Religious Heritage, a member of the European Heritage Alliance.

The Advisory Panel of the 7 Most Endangered Programme stated that: “This nomination can make a difference in saving a crucial piece of local heritage that has the potential to make a real impact in the local community and its socio-economic development. The Great Synagogue in Orla stands as a symbol of the complex, often difficult history of Polish lands, and represents today an impressive grassroots energy of Polish, Belarussian and Ukrainian residents who – at the absence of Jewish descendants exterminated during the Holocaust – unite above cultures, ethnicities and religions to bring this Jewish monument to its former glory. It is a symbol of the fate of the Jewish heritage after the Holocaust, but at the same time an instructive example of restoring memory.”

Santo Estevo de Pousada (Spain)

The once parochial Church of Santo Estevo de Pousada, in the Diocese of Lugo, is today a chapel. There are pre-Romanesque remains on the walls linked to pre-existing construction dating from the end of the 6th to the 9th century. Most of the existing structure dates from the 12th to the 13th centuries (with the exception of the outer walls, which were renovated in the 1970s).

The building has a single nave and gabled roof, a presbytery covered by a pointed barrel vault and, separating both, a rounded triumphal arch. Both sides of the arch and the presbytery walls are covered with frescoes from 1582. They depict several saints and biblical scenes, including the passion and death of Jesus Christ. The author of these frescoes appears to have been familiar with Gothic and Flemish traditions, but also more recent Renaissance forms of Italian origin. The outer walls of the chapel were drastically remodelled in 1975 due to significant risk of collapse.

Photo: Jesús Salvador López/Diocese of Lugo

The Via Künig passes very close to Pousada; it is a variant of the Camino Francés to Santiago, which is inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO and designated as a European Cultural Route by the Council of Europe. Nearby is the town of Baralla and the bank of the Neira river. Pousada was thus an enclave of great importance in Roman times due to the (gold) mining sites, known as “Timalino”. Baralla and Pousada were thus a part of Via Romana XIX. The church was also the central meeting point and the main place of worship for the surrounding community, known as Santo Estevo de Neira. It is also important to note that the church, now chapel, of Santo Estevo is the first of a series of churches with pictorial cycles on that part of the Via XIX.

Despite such prominent origins, the building is under increasing threats: as the roof is damaged, weather phenomena become increasingly impactful on the inside and notably on the frescoes; water leakages are also noted in the foundations. Furthermore, beetle infestations, termites, and invasive vegetation contribute to the rising risk of collapse. Finally, the isolated location contributes to vandalism and theft risks.

To summarise, the Church of Santo Estevo de Pousada would merit being added to the catalogue of cultural places of interest. Moreover, its restoration, including the immediate surroundings, should be undertaken to renew its religious use and to unlock its doubtless potential for the social and economic development of the area and for expanding cultural tourism, thus slowing the ongoing abandonment of the villages nearby. Also, awareness of the historical and cultural significance of the site should be increased. The cooperation between the owner, the Diocese of Lugo, the nominator of the site to the 7 Most Endangered Programme 2025, Future for Religious Heritage, and Europa Nostra aims at contributing to such an objective.

The owner is currently preparing a report for the repair of the roof. The City Council of Baralla and the regional government are also committed to its enhancement and improvement of access.

The Advisory Panel of the 7 Most Endangered Programme stated: “The Church of Santo Estevo de Pousada is of exceptional interest due to its history, its location, its natural environment, and its content. The church features a 13th-century baptismal font and the best preserved 16th-century mural paintings in the area. There is the possibility of upgrading the existing paths to extend the pedestrian areas to this area of the river and connect with the route of the Künig Way to Santiago de Compostela. In addition, in the future it could serve as an advanced point for other similar churches that are more difficult to access (such as Berselos, Covas, Vale and Lexo).”

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