This is what the Karaite Kenesa looked like before the “restoration work” began. Stock photo
A Karaite place of worship, a so-called kenesa, in temporarily occupied Simferopol, Crimea, is beginning to decay. Although the building reopened after renovation in May 2023, the facade now needs urgent repairs.
Source: Activists of the media company Holos Krymu (“Voice of Crimea”)
The Russian State Committee for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of the Republic of Crimea commissioned a renovation of the interior and repair of the facade of the kenesa; the work was completed in 2017. In 2022, local authorities announced the completion of the “restoration work” and claimed that the “historical appearance” of the building and the surrounding area had been restored.
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This is the current state of the Simferopol Karaite Kenesa
Photo: Holos Krymu
Activists say that Maxim SorokaHead of the Central Service and Development Department of Cultural Institutions in Crimea, assured locals that the situation is under the control of the “Crimean Ministry of Culture.” He believes that the damage “does not affect the structural part of the building.”
History of the Karaite Kenesa
The Karaite prayer house, known as Kenesa, was built in 1896. The main building material was stone quarried from the banks of the Bodrak River. The altar in the Simferopol Kenesa was different from other places of worship built during that period: due to the specific topography, it was oriented towards Mecca rather than Jerusalem.
In 1930, the Kenesa was closed and replaced by a Karaite club. The club operated for three years, after which the building was renovated and some of the interior and exterior decorations were removed.
This is what the prayer house looked like in 2018
Photo: FV Centre
After 1936, the Kenesa building was used as the editorial headquarters of the Crimean Radio and Television Center, with an interruption during the German occupation of Crimea from 1941 to 1944 during World War II. After Ukraine’s independence in 1991, the Karaite community tried to reclaim its rights to use the building.
On October 7, 2012, a prayer service was held on the third floor of the building, which was returned to the parish – the first service in over 80 years. The following year, the Crimean Television and Radio Company handed over the entire building to the parish.
Photo: FV Centre
Quote from Voice of Crimea: “The ‘Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea’, established by the Russian occupiers, transferred the Kenesa building to the Simferopol Cholpan Karaite religious community by its ‘decree’ No. 667-r of July 15, 2014. In the autumn of the same year, the community renovated one of the rooms on the first floor of the building for worship.”
The restoration work carried out in 2017-2018 cost the Russians 130 million rubles (about 1.5 million US dollars). The work was sponsored by representatives of a “Federal Target Program for the Development of Crimea”. In the course of their work, the “restorers” failed to restore the two domes on the roof and the six-pointed star on the pediment. They also dismantled the original carved doors and the original window grilles.
Who are the Karaites?
The Karaites are a Turkic indigenous people of Ukraine who have lived on the Crimean peninsula since the 13th century. Before that, there were large Karaite communities in the cities of Galicia, as well as in Lutsk, Kiev and Odessa.
According to Ukrainian, there are currently about 1,000 Karaites, the majority of whom live in the temporarily occupied Crimea.
“The core of their community is their faith: they recognize the Torah, but not the dogmatic interpretations of religious organizations because they believe that the reader should interpret it,” the publication says.
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