- Foundation: 1866
- Demolition: 1958
- Location: Moyzesova Street
- Style: Moorish style
- Architect: Michal Répaszky
Kosice’s oldest synagogue was once an old granary on Zvonárska street which had been converted to a synagogue in 1844. As the Jewish community grew quickly in the next decades, it was decided to construct a bigger house of prayer. In 1866 a new synagogue was built on Moyzesova street after plans by architect Michal Répaszky.
The two towers which reminded many of the ones on Christian churches, as well as the placement of the Almenor, the raised rostrum from which the Torah is read, at the upper end of the house of prayer instead of in its centre led to controversy within the Jewish community. Some considered it a sin to even enter the new church building. This controversy led eventually to a schism of Košice’s Jewry into three factions: Orthodox, Neologist, and Status Quo Ante, i.e. those who hadn’t joined any of the other two.
The dispute went thus far, that the critics of the new synagogue turned to the Minister of Religion and Education, who sent mediators to Košice in order to discuss the contradictions within the Jewish community. The new synagogue was given to the Neologist community, while a small conservative-style synagogue was constructed right next to the large one by the Status Quo Ante. The Orthodox believers continued to visit the synagogue on Zvonárska street. In 1899 the Orthodox community built a proper synagogue on the same street.
In 1926 the Status Quo Ante and Neologist communities switched their synagogues. The Neologists tore down the small building and replaced it with a modern temple with a cupola (nowadays the House of Arts). The Status Quo Ante believers transformed the large synagogue to their needs by tearing down the two towers and putting the Almenor in the centre. It was inaugurated in 1927. The Orthodox community built a larger synagogue in the same year on Puškin street.
The Shoah had taken its toll on the Jewish populace in Košice which had become significantly smaller after 1945. Eventually, the large synagogue had fallen into disrepair and was torn down in 1958 to make place for the extension of the later House of Arts.
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