The medieval synagogue building Maribor, Slovenia has been granted the status as a cultural landmark of national importance.
Slovenian media report that the step was taken by government decree on Friday (August 28). (It already had been listed as a locally important landmark.)
Dating from the 14th or as early as the 13th century, the building is one of the few surviving medieval synagogues in Europe. It was converted into a church, however, in 1501, after the expulsion of the Jews from Maribor. The building functioned as a church until the late 18th century. In the early 19th century the building was sold and turned into a storehouse by a local merchant. It was divided into two parts horizontally. In the second half of the 19th century, the building’s gothic arches were pulled down and the top floor was converted into a residential space.
The synagogue was restored throughout the 1990s, in work financed by the city and the state, and opened in 2001 as a Jewish Heritage Center, administered by Maribor Regional Museum. Since 2011 it has functioned as an independent institution, the Center for Jewish Cultural Heritage-Synagogue Maribor.
It is one of two historic synagogue buildings that stand today in Slovenia; the other is a 19th century synagogue in Lendava, now used as a museum and culture center.
See more about Maribor and other Jewish heritage in Slovenia in our Slovenia pages