Kanisa-yi Sangbast

According to a stone engraving, this synagogue was originally built in 1914. The synagogue was a waqf building and the construction was funded by the local Jewish community. The building is an irregular assemblage at the end of a long, twisted alley. The entrance is off of an octagonal, unroofed space. It leads onto a short corridor that dead ends into another corridor running perpendicular to it. This corridor leads on one end to a courtyard, and on the other around the periphery of the prayer hall to an entrance in its southeastern corner.The courtyard is nearly rectangular, save for its northern wall, which is defined by the neighboring buildings. On two sides of the courtyard are service rooms that face onto the central space through windows.The prayer hall is roughly rectangular with a large central axis and two smaller ones on the north and south defined by pillars. The bema is under the eastern bay of the central axis, which is covered by a skylight. Another bay lies between the bema and the Torah ark on the western wall. The women’s section is a half-storey on the southern side of the synagogue. Carved and painted stucco as well as and haft-rang tiles decorate the building. The synagogue is still being used as a religious space, but does not seem to have been renovated in the last six decades.-- Mohammad Gharipour (September, 2017)