SHALOM JEWISH MARKET

The Jews of Kyustendil built their first synagogue in 1863 on what is now Lyuben Karavelov Street, would soon be joined by a Jewish school, as well as a cultural house including a library. It was used by two Jewish choirs, a theatre company, a sports team and a women's organisation. 

After most of the local community emigrated to Israel, in the late 1940s-early 1950s, both the synagogue and the schools were nationalised, with a couple of school rooms being left to the now minuscule Jewish community, mainly for cultural activities. In the 1950s most Jewish artefacts, including objects used in the synagogue, were donated to the Central Synagogue in Sofia. Some of them are now in the Jewish Museum. 

A mural depicting "labour and artistic freedom" in Communist Bulgaria, at the former Jewish school in Kyustendil

Initially, Kyustendil's synagogue was turned into a picture gallery showing artwork mainly by Vladimir "Master" Dimitrov (1882-1960), a native of Kyustendil and one of Bulgaria's top artists. When the city council erected a new, modern art gallery, the former synagogue fell into disrepair. At the beginning of the 1990s it was returned to the Jewish community but the damage done to it through the years of neglect had taken its toll. Besides, there were so few Jews left in Kyustendil that repairing it and turning it into a synagogue again was out of the question. The building was demolished and the plot was used for a small commercial centre now known as the Jewish Market. 

It is run by the community and there are a number of plaques to remind visitors what ground they are walking on. There is also a copy of a plaque commemorating the local Jews who died in the 1912-1918 wars.