Statement of Cultural Heritage Significance:

Statement of Significance: Victoria's largest nineteenth century synagogue, containing a Bema, Tabernacle and other features in a highly intact state, and of architectural interest especially for the interior of 1877, designed by Crough &Wilson. The space is surrounded on three sides by a Gallery carried on iron columns, each surmounted by an unusual arrangement of an impost block flanked by consoles (in the manner of the Badia at Fiesole, Italy); the face of the gallery is treated as a classical entablature with dentillation, and the balustrade is of swag-bellied cast iron. The main ceiling is panelled, with a dentillated and modillionated cornice, and with a row of large and unusual ventilators marking the location of former suspended gas lights. The facade, completed in 1883 to the design of T J Crouch, is an imposing but not especially remarkable renaissance design with a pedimented centre panel projecting slightly, and with dome-like hexagonal mansard roofs to either side. First Classified 1/12/77 Upgraded 5/3/87