The Kharkiv Choral Synagogue was built in 1912–1913 to a design by architect Yakov Gevirtz in an eclectic style that combined Art Nouveau features with Moorish elements.

Architects Mikhail Piskunov and Valentin Feldman also worked on the project (the apartment building designed by Feldman in 1907 for Ivan Romanenko is better known as the Shapara House).

The main clients for the project were brothers Leon and Adolf Rubinstein.

The Rubinstein brothers were involved in the sugar trade and owned four banks and three sugar refineries.

The synagogue’s current address is Hryhorii Skovoroda Street, 12.

An interesting fact: the synagogue (or, as it was called, the “First Jewish Prayer House”) was located at the rear of the lot to comply with the legal requirement of maintaining a distance of 100 fathoms (213 m) from the nearest Christian church (which was St. Nicholas Church, now lost).

The synagogue was closed in 1923 and subsequently housed the Jewish Workers’ Club, a movie theater, and the “Spartak Voluntary Sports Society.”

The building was returned to the Jewish community in 1990.

In 2003, the restoration of the synagogue, designed by Vladimir Novgorodov, was completed.

Many people know that the Kharkiv Choral Synagogue claims to be the second largest in Europe. The largest is located in Budapest. The interior area of the Great Synagogue in Budapest, built in 1859 to a design by Ludwig Ferst, is 1,200 square meters, and it can accommodate 3,000 worshippers. Its height is 43.6 meters, just 1.6 meters taller than the one in Kharkiv. However, the capacity of the Kharkiv synagogue is three times smaller, accommodating up to 1,000 worshippers. By this measure, the Kharkiv synagogue ranks only fourth—it is also surpassed by the Great Synagogue in Essen, Germany (1,500 people) and the synagogue in Plzeň, Czech Republic (2,000 people). However, Kharkiv Choral Synagogue is still a large and beautiful architectural monument.

As a result of the Russian missile strike on the “Nikolsky” shopping center in the spring of 2022, the Kharkiv Choral Synagogue was damaged and lost some of its windows.