Kupa Synagogue in Krakow: history and visiting from outside

Kupa Synagogue, at ul. Miodowa 27 in the Kazimierz Jewish quarter, is not currently open to visitors. It is a house of prayer and a meeting place of a living Jewish community, not a museum, and you can see the building from outside. It was built in the 1640s and is entered from Miodowa Street.

Kupa Synagogue: a house of prayer of Krakow's Jewish community

The synagogue is run by the Jewish Religious Community in Krakow, which also has its office in the building. It stands on a plot between ul. Miodowa 27 and ul. Warszauera 8, by the northern line of the old defensive walls of Kazimierz. The name comes from the Hebrew word kupa, meaning the contributions of community members, the kahal's treasury.

On Friday evenings members of the Community meet here for Shabbat dinners. On holidays, including Rosh Hashanah, Purim, Hanukkah, Passover and Simchat Torah, festive meals follow the prayers.

History of the Kupa Synagogue

In the 19th century the synagogue was extended several times. Between the wars it went through conservation work, the interior was decorated with new paintings and the building was given an ornamental fence. During the German occupation the synagogue was devastated.

On 11 August 1945, during Saturday morning prayers, an aggressive crowd burst into the synagogue; Jews were beaten and the synagogue was wrecked. This was part of the Krakow pogrom, whose immediate cause was a false rumour of an alleged ritual murder. For a few years after the war prayers were again held here, and the building also housed a matzah bakery and a ritual poultry slaughterhouse, and later warehouses, flats and a shoe workshop. After the Jewish Religious Community in Krakow took the synagogue over in 1995, renovation began; according to VisitMałopolska, the most recent renovation was carried out in 2001.

Kupa Synagogue from outside, and what is inside

• The building: in the Community's description, a Baroque synagogue with a simple body under a gable roof; only the tall windows with rounded tops show that it is a house of worship.
• The old town walls: from Warszauera Street you can see the remains of the northern line of the defensive walls of Kazimierz.
• The prayer hall (closed to visitors): according to the Community, paintings richly cover its walls and ceiling. Upstairs, a gallery for women opens onto the main hall on three sides, and the full cycle of the signs of the zodiac is painted on its balustrade.
• The east wall (closed to visitors): between two windows stands a 17th-century Baroque aron ha-kodesh, the cabinet for the Torah scrolls. To its left is a painting of a table with 12 loaves of showbread, a symbol of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
• The paintings and the foundation plaque: VisitMałopolska writes that the paintings have biblical, plant and animal motifs, and that the zodiac signs relate to the Jewish division of the ritual year into months. A 17th-century foundation plaque of the Brotherhood of Priests and Levites, from 1646-1647, survives on the east wall.

Can you visit the Kupa Synagogue?

Kupa Synagogue is not currently open to visitors. It is a house of prayer and a meeting place of a living Jewish community, not a museum; you can see the building from outside. Services are held here, but they are not a way to see the interior: anyone from outside who attends must follow the Community's rules and needs the consent of the hosts. The synagogue stands among the dense buildings of Kazimierz and has no public parking of its own. Details checked in October 2026; for the synagogues of Kazimierz, see the website of the Jewish Religious Community in Krakow.

Where Kupa Synagogue is and how to walk there

On foot the synagogue is about 18 minutes from the Main Market Square. Tempel Synagogue is on the same street, at ul. Miodowa 24, about two minutes away, and the Isaac Synagogue, another of the Community's synagogues, is about three minutes away.

Before you go to the Kupa Synagogue

Treat the building as a working house of prayer: look at it from Miodowa Street, and from Warszauera Street for the remains of the town walls. Do not plan on attending a service in order to see the paintings. Tempel Synagogue, on the same street, can be visited inside, as can the Old Synagogue and the Remuh Synagogue and Cemetery; each has its own page with hours and prices. Like Kupa, two other synagogues nearby are not museums: the High Synagogue opens only occasionally, and the Popper Synagogue holds a bookshop.

Kupa Synagogue: frequently asked questions

Can you visit the Kupa Synagogue in Krakow?

No, it is closed to visitors. The building can be seen from the street, and the interior is used by the Jewish community for prayer and gatherings.

What does the name Kupa mean?

Kupa is a Hebrew word for the contributions of community members, the treasury of the kahal, and the synagogue takes its name from it.

Where is the Kupa Synagogue?

At ul. Miodowa 27 in Kazimierz, entered from Miodowa Street; the plot runs through to ul. Warszauera 8.

When was the Kupa Synagogue built?

In the 1640s. It was extended in the 19th century and renovated after the Jewish Religious Community in Krakow took it over in 1995.

Is the Kupa Synagogue still used for prayer?

Yes. Services are held here, Community members gather for Shabbat dinners on Friday evenings, and festive meals follow the prayers on holidays.

Photo: Jeremiah Z. Cockroach, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.