Piece of a wooden synagogue

The second largest Jewish community in eighteenth century Transylvania was that of Náznánfalva. Jews were not allowed to settle in Marosvásárhely (today: Târgu Mureș, Romania), just as in any other Royal Free Towns. This explains why they settled in nearby Náznánfalva on the estate of the Barcsay family, where a timber synagogue was erected in 1747. Such structures were common in Poland and the Baltic territories, the Názánfalva synagogue however was the first of this kind in Hungary. (Jewish craftsmen from Poland who created the interior woodcarvings of such synagogues depicting intricate animal and plant patterns later emigrated to America and essentially monopolized the carousel-industry at the turn of the century.) The light-blue interior walls of the rather simple Názánfalva synagogue, which in-fact looked like a barn from the outside, were decorated with prayers painted in red frames. The various astrological constellations corresponding to the months of the year could be seen on the ceiling. In 1941, one year following the reunification of Transylvania and Hungary under the 2^nd Vienna Award, the Hungarian Jewish Museum obtained eight of the painted pieces of the timber synagogue, which had already been destroyed by then.