- [Narrator] Standing resilient for over 150 years,
the Dohány Street Synagogue is one of the largest
Jewish houses of worship on the planet.
This is Hungary's great synagogue.
The synagogue was constructed in the 1850s.
Its architect settled on a distinctly
Moorish look in the building's design.
Combining elements of North African
and Central European architecture.
Inside this monumental space is a capacity
for nearly 3,000 worshipers,
making it the largest synagogue in Europe
and one of the largest working synagogues in the world.
The synagogue has hosted concerts
with classical legends like Franz Liszt.
And in modern times the chambers still fills
to standing room only for performances.
But it wasn't always celebrations behind these walls.
The building suffered and survived bombings
and occupation by the Nazis.
And it was heavily damaged when the Soviet Union
retook the city near the end of World War II.
The story of the synagogue's worshipers
and the Jews of Europe at large
is preserved throughout the complex.
It is home to a Jewish museum,
a Jewish cemetery, and a sobering memorial
to the atrocities of the holocaust.
This great synagogue both reminds us
of darkness and inspires us to hope
as we look forward into the future.