The Samara Choral Synagogue is one of the city's most striking pre-revolutionary religious buildings, built when Samara was a prosperous Volga trading centre with a substantial Jewish community. Its broad facade and Moorish-influenced details stand apart from the Orthodox churches and Soviet civic blocks that dominate much of the cityscape.
The building's history has been uneven, reflecting the wider fate of religious institutions in the Soviet period and after. Even when viewed only from outside, it adds an important layer to a walk through Samara: the city was never just a Russian provincial capital, but a multi-confessional river port.