Lazar Brodsky Choral Synagogue

The Lazar Brodsky Choral Synagogue is built in the Romanesque revival style, with elements of Moorish revival. It is known as the Brodsky Choral Synagogue because it was built on the estate of the Jewish sugar magnate Lazar Brodsky after the tsarist authorities would not allow a synagogue to be built close to Jewish neighborhoods in the center of town. It is, therefore, an example of a so-called Aesopian synagogue—a synagogue in the Russian Empire built under false pretenses. In this case the plans submitted for approval disguised the purpose of the building; instead of the house of worship eventually built, permission was requested to erect a “mansion.”