WORTH VISITING:
Wooden beit midrash in Telšiai can be a real treasure for those, who search for not traditional historical paths. When everyone is going to the popular yeshiva building in Telšiai, those who cherish their historical imagination take a longer road by the often forgotten wooden synagogue. This is one of seventeen extant wooden synagogues in nowadays Lithuania.
BRIEF HISTORY:
There is no other city like Telšiai in Samogitia, which would have been so popular between Jewish settlers. At the end of the 18th century, Jews constituted almost 80 percent of the town`s inhabitants. Although these numbers gradually decreased during the 19th century, Telšiai was an important Jewish education and cultural center in Lithuania until the Second World War.
CURRENT SITUATION:
Historians fail to date the construction of the extant wooden tailors` synagogue in Telšiai, but it has clearly been one of the smallest prayer houses in the town. Although after Holocaust a small Jewish community remained in Telšiai, due to the Soviet ideological politics the extant synagogue has not been used for religious purposes. After 1990 when Lithuania regained its independence, the synagogue has been completely reconstructed, and now the former prayer house is a home for a furniture and home appliances store. Thus this building now has only a symbolical meaning, during the reconstructions it has lost its original structure and its interior is no longer recognizable as an interior of a synagogue.
LOOKING AROUND:
Telšiai yeshiva (Iždinės g. 11) 55.984933, 22.251053
Jewish photo-atelier (Kęstučio g. 3) 55.983391, 22.249006
Jewish teacher seminary (Stoties g. 4) 55.988229, 22.25025
Soldiers` beit midrash (Aukštoji g. 3) 55.980779, 22.243785
Beit midrash of the wealthy (Sinagogos g. 4) 55.984375, 22.252966
Jewish hospital (Gedimino g. 3) 55.980974, 22.237045
Girls gymanasium (Respublikos g. 49) 55.981469, 22.245876
Jewish cemetery (Stoties g.) 55.988296, 22.250029
