Fortress synagogue

A fortress synagogue is a synagogue built to withstand attack while protecting the lives of people sheltering within it.

Fortress synagogues first appeared in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 16th century at a time of frequent invasions from the east by Ottoman, Russian and Wallachian troops.

The Old Synagogue, Kraków, a rare surviving fortress synagogue, was rebuilt in 1570 with an attic wall featuring loopholes and windows placed far above ground level, features borrowed from military architecture.

[1] Walls were thick masonry, with heavy buttressing to withstand assault.

[2] The Szydłów Synagogue is another example of a surviving, 16th-century fortress synagogue with rare combination of Gothic and Renaissance structural elements.