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If the Princes Road Synagogue was in New York or
Central London then it'd be known worldwide, but as
it is nestling close to the junction of Upper
Parliament Street and Princes Road the building, the
building is passed daily by Liverpool commuters, the
majority of whom have no idea of what lies within.
View the picture gallery of the synagogue
Quite simply the interior is breathtaking. The Grade
II listed building is hailed as one of Europe's
finest examples of the Moorish revival style of
synagogue architecture.
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Part of the ornate interior |
The building was built in 1874 when Liverpool was
one of the most prosperous cities in the world - and
it shows.
From the street it looks nothing special, nothing
more than a simple brick building, its inside behind
the large wooden doors that the real show begins.
The interior simply glows, most of it golden. The
high ceiling is capped at both ends by large
circular windows that cast light across the floor.
Everywhere you look there's marble, in columns, and
fixtures throughout the hall.
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Through the round window... |
If you were looking for one word to describe Princes
Road Synagogue it would be 'ornate'. From the
ornamentation on the pillars to the rich colours all
around the synagogue everything inside seems to
shine with colour.
The synagogue was built by Edinburgh architect
brothers William and George Audsley, for £14 975 8s
11d. The Princes Road Synagogue was consecrated on
September 2nd 1874. Much of the building was later
gutted by fire in the late 1970's, but has since
been painstakingly restored.
The synagogue has many stories to its name - from a
choirmaster who's been in post since 1934, at 70
years surely a world record? To its recent
appearance in the BBC4 programme 'Days That Shook
the World' depicting the 1938 'Kristallnacht' - the
turning point in the Nazi persecution of the Jews.
The Princes Road Synagogue is currently undergoing a
semi-refurbishment programme with much of the roof
being replaced, which accounted for some of the
eerie banging noises on our visit. The building
still needs more work to safeguard its future but is
currently handicapped by a lack of funds; something
you feel wouldn't be a problem if it was in central
London or New York.
Words: Paul Coslett |
