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Some remarks on the Karaite Prayer House in Lutsk and Its Furnishings

Publication |
2015

Abstract

The Karaite prayer house was first mentioned in a letter of Sigismund I dated 22 December 1506. In ‎the first half of the 17th century the Karaite community made efforts to obtain permission from ‎Sigismund III Vasa to construct stone prayer houses in place of the existing wooden ones.

The ‎Rabbanite community was granted such a permission in 1626. However, the Karaites were not ‎permitted to construct a stone building since their synagogue was situated outside the fortifications ‎and could not contribute to the defence system of the city.

In 1633 Sigismund III's successor, ‎Ladislaus IV acknowledged the right of the Karaites to possess a wooden prayer house. In the 18th ‎century the building was at least twice devoured by fire.

In 1915 this historical edifice was ransacked ‎by Austrian troops. In the paper an attempt to establish the kind of its furnishings is made based on ‎two relations of 1821 and 1908 and an inventory list of 1883. ‎