Hobart Synagogue

The oldest synagogue in Australia (1845), in unusual Egyptian Revival style

Address 59 Argyle Street, Hobart
Opening Hours Tours by arrangement; services Fri evening, Sat morning
Admission Donation suggested

Consecrated in 1845, the Hobart Synagogue is the oldest synagogue in Australia and one of the few surviving Egyptian Revival buildings in the country. The pale sandstone exterior is austere; the interior is a small, rectangular room with a women's gallery on three sides, a bimah at the eastern end, and the original cedar pews. The congregation is tiny but still active, and the building can be visited by arrangement (call ahead) or during services.

Combine with a walk through the surrounding Argyle Street convict-era buildings and the nearby Penitentiary Chapel Historic Site.

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A story
Many of the founding congregants were Jewish convicts — transported from Britain for theft and other property crimes in the 1820s and 1830s. The Egyptian Revival style was deliberately chosen because the Egyptian motifs (papyrus capitals, the cavetto cornice) were not Christian, and so were considered acceptable for a Jewish house of worship. The original timber pews include a row at the back reserved historically for convicts still serving their sentences.

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