Erected during the times of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, it functioned as a place of worship for Polish Jews until World War II, when the Nazis turned the interior into a carpenters' workshop.

They were Sephardim coming from the Ottoman Empire and Venice and consequently established the northernmost Sephardi community in Central and Eastern Europe.

The influx of Ashkenazi Jews increased in the 1640s, especially by refugees fleeing the anti-Jewish massacres perpetrated by the troops of Bohdan Khmelnytsky during the Ukrainian revolt against Polish rule.

The synagogue was one of the first properties to be officially returned to the Jewish community by the Polish government in 2000 and in 2004 the public library which used the building moved to another location.

In 2009 a major reconstruction of the synagogue was underway under the auspices of the Warsaw-based Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland.

The Old Synagogue is a prominent example of late Polish Renaissance or Mannerist style in harmony with the general urban design.

The prayer hall represents the core of the building and during the middle of the 17th century two low porches for women were added to the north and south elevations.

One of the only features remaining that indicates its former use as a Jewish house of prayer is the Aron Kodesh on the Eastern wall which dates from the first half of the 17th century.

The lavishly decorated stone carved frame depicts motifs of ritual vessels used at the Temple in Jerusalem and a Torah crown.

The Foundation for the Preservation of Jewish Heritage in Poland (FODZ) [2] together with the local authorities, NGOs including the World Monuments Fund and the Israeli Organization of Zamość Jewry, aim to establish in the synagogue a cultural center that will provide housing and support for various local initiatives, as well as the Museum of Jews from the Zamość area.

The Museum is going to present the history of penetration and mutual enrichment of Polish and Jewish culture in the Zamość region.

[5]The assigning of new functions to the building, including use as an art gallery, concert and theatre hall, has been deemed necessary to attain funds for necessary conservation works, although this has proved a controversial move.

Another organisation, the Yaacov Magid of Dubno Fund (YMDF), established in 2001, names that one of its aims is to "restore the splendid interior of the synagogue to its former glory".