The oldest kenesa in Lithuania is located in Trakai, 30 Karaimų st. The first kenesa is believed to have been built in the same place at the end of XIV century – the beginning of XV century. It was destroyed by fire and rebuilt several times. By the efforts of the senior priest Feliks Malecki (1854-1928) and with the funds he had collected, major repairs of the kenesa were performed and a turret was constructed on the roof in 1894. In 1903 – 1904, the building was repaired according to the design of Vilnius architect Mikhail Prozorov (1860 – 1914). During the interwar period, Trakai Kenesa was repainted several times, however its shape was preserved and it is still in line with the architectural reconstruction design drafted by Mikhail Prozorov. Although in the Soviet period the Karaim Kenesa of Trakai was the only officially working Karaim temple in Europe, religious service was no longer held there since 1960s. The last couple got married in the kenesa in 1956. In preparation for the 600th anniversary of Tatar and Karaims’ settlement in Lithuania, which was celebrated in 1997, for the first time after World War II major restoration of the kenesa was performed. It was renewed again in 2017 – 2018.

Karaims pray in temples called kenesas (the name stems from the Arab word “kanisa”, i.e. “the church”). They are more than just “the house of prayer”, they are rather a place of a much higher spiritual status, therefore nothing else but religious service can take place there. Currently, there are two active kenesas in Lithuania ‒ in Trakai and in Vilnius; previously, however, there were also kenesas in Biržai, Naujamiestis and Panevėžys.

Traditionally, it is believed that in 1397, after one of the military marches to the Golden Horde steppes, the Great Duke of Lithuania Vytautas resettled approximately 380 Karaim families into Lithuania. Presumably, Vytautas brought them together as loyal guards and brave soldiers. It may have also been part of his state policy: to settle dwellers on empty areas of land, build castles and cities, intensify trade and the economy of the European state under his rule, which was large and powerful at the time. At first Karaims, as the guards of the Great Duke, were accommodated in a very compact area in Trakai between two castles of the Duke, in the current Karaim settlement. In this way, Duke Vytautas ensured the security of the castle, as everyone willing to get there had to cross the Karaim street. Later, other Karaim settlements grew in Northern Lithuania: in Biržai, Pasvalys, Naujamiestis, Upytė. However, the town of Trakai has always been their administrative and spiritual centre.

Trakai Kenesa is a wooden square two-story building. Its total area is 108 m2. There are ten arched stained-glass windows just below the soffit on the four walls of the building. The front wall of the kenesa has three windows. This solution must have been determined by the traditional form of the houses of Trakai Karaims, i.e. most of them have three windows facing the street. The roof of the kenesa is made from tin and has four slopes. It has a graceful square turret above, with four small stained-glass windows facing all sides of the earth. The turret, which previously served as a torch, is also covered with tin and has a shaped spire with a small sphere at the top. Symmetrically, two identical spires with spheres also decorate the angles of the roof’s ridge and the tops of the brick poles of the central gate.

Having settled in Lithuania, Karaims made an individual community (“Džymat”). Rulers afforded privileges to the community and its individual members, thus defining their legal status. Unfortunately, the original privileges afforded by the Great Duke Vytautas and mentioned in XVII century documents have not been preserved. The first preserved document determining the legal status of Karaims in Lithuania is the privilege afforded by the Grand Duke Kazimieras (Casimir) on 27 March 1441 granting Magdeburg Rights to the community, just like Vilnius, Trakai and Kaunas cities had been granted. This document was important because it was the first time in Lithuania for Magdeburg Rights to be afforded to a non-Christian community. All later rulers of Lithuania would confirm the privileges granted to Karaims.

The churchyard is surrounded by a wooden fence mounted on the stone foundation. The fence is divided into separate segments by wooden poles. On the left side of the fence which separates the kenesa from the school territory, there is a small gate leading to the yard.

The kenesa is divided into three spaces inside. Having entered through the main wooden double door, one gets into a small porch where all believers gather before the service. A long bench stands along the wall normally used by women who find it difficult to climb up to the second floor where a separate gallery is designated for women to pray. Like in all temples of Oriental religions, men and women pray separately.

The main hall is located on the first floor of the kenesa, left of the entrance. The altar stands in the southern part of the main hall on a small raised platform (approximately 50 cm above the floor). During the service, peace and concentration must be observed in kenesa. The Karaim liturgy is based on David’s psalms and the songs and hymns written by Karaim theologists and poets. During the service, the believers recite the prayers glorifying the Lord, also thanksgiving, repentance, beseeching, and creed prayers. The order of the service is similar in all kenesas. At the beginning of the service, together with the priest saying the well-known prayer „Atamyz ki kiokliardia“ (“Our Father“), all men gather in the main hall. All believers repeat this prayer at the beginning and end of all religious services. The priest prays at the cathedral located in the hall at the foot of the altar. Depending on the type of the prayer, he prays standing or kneeling, always facing the South where the altar is located. All people praying act in the same way. Usually, all praying people have their own place in kenesas, where their ancestors used to pray for ages. People, whose family members passed away, pray in more remote places during the mourning period lasting a whole year. It is obligatory for everyone to cover one’s head in kenesas, although the form of the head cover is not strictly defined.

Karaism, as a separate religion with its dogmas, truths and religious traditions, crystallised itself in VIII century in the territory of Mesopotamia, currently Iraq, during the rule of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mansur. The formation of Karaism was a protest against the distortion, verbal and by written comments, of the Holy Writ. Anan the son of David from Basra (died in 775) is considered as the codifier of the new religion, the creator of religious norms and rules. He used to instruct his followers not to distance themselves from the Holy Writ, try to interpret it according to their own understanding and to rely on their own opinion. Those professing Karaism still adhere to these provisions. No later additions or interpretations are recognised. They believe that all authentic truths lie within it, and every believer has the right to look for them in this text themselves.

The walls of the gallery of the kenesa, where women pray, are framed with painted stripes according to the composition typical of the XIX-XX century. The gallery and the porch have identical drawings of diamond and trapezium ceiling rosettes. Chandeliers are mounted in the plant ornament rosettes. The three walls of the gallery have large windows decorated with bright stained glass. There is a cavity at the level of the eyes across the full width of the wall facing the altar. The cavity is divided by low wooden turned balusters of the neo-Gothic style, as if forming small windows. Women may observe what is happening downstairs over them and thus participate in the service. Somewhat larger balusters of the same style support the staircase wall. The stairs leading to the gallery are made from wood with wooden handrails on both sides.

The Karaim community was registered in Vilnius in 1880. Their religious service would take place in private premises at the time. When a significant number of Karaim intelligentsia assembled in Vilnius at the beginning of XX century and started actively working in the direction of the maintenance of the identity, culture, religion and especially the language of the nation, a need arose to have their own temple. For that purpose, a Kenesa Construction Committee was set up on 3 June 1908, and the senior priest Feliks Malecki (1854-1928) was elected its chairman. On 7 April 1909, Vilnius City Duma satisfied the community’s request to allocate from the State reserve 282.7 square fathoms of land (approx. 12 ares) for gratuitous use. The land plot was located in Žvėrynas district in quarter no. 293, i.e. in the street which at that time was called Gorodskaja (presently Liubarto st.). It was noted in the request of the Committee that 300 Karaims lived in Vilnius at the time. In relation to the construction of the kenesa, Karaim Street appeared perpendicular to Liubarto st. before World War I.

Architect Mikhail Prozorov drafted the design of the building of the kenesa. He had already built the Orthodox church in Žvėrynas by that time and had supervised the restauration works of Trakai Kenesa. The construction works of Vilnius Kenesa started with the sanctification of the cornerstone on 30 October 1911. The walls and the roof were built in two years. The construction of the kenesa was funded with the money received from the subscription of the magazine “Karaimskoje slovo” (“The word of Karaims”), which was being issued in Vilnius, as well as with the funds collected during charity parties and the donations of foreign Karaim communities. In 1913, Sevastopol Karaims sent cypress timber by train for the production of the altar, because the altars of kenesas had to be made from this particular tree which only grows in the South. The construction works of the kenesa had to be suspended due to the lack of funds and the start of World War I. They were renewed in 1919 – 1921 when Karaims returned to Vilnius from their evacuation places. On 9 September 1923, the kenesa was sanctified by Feliks Malecki, the senior priest of the time of Vilnius Karaims’ religious community.

The rectangular kenesa with a three-wall apse was designed by architect Mikhail Prozorov, who observed Karaim liturgical requirements and used the fashionable architectural style of historicism epoch. This brick Moorish-style building resembles Kiev Kenesa designed by the same architect. Abundant exterior wall texture decorations create an exotic impression about the architecture of the kenesa. The oriental-style facade is crowned by an onion-shaped cupola with a Karaim coat of arms fixed in the metal circle of the spires above. The specific exterior of the building emphasises its unique function.The building is decorated with Byzantine-style windows arched at the top. The facade of the building facing the street has a massive main oak door which is opened during big celebrations, while the side door is used on weekdays. There is an oval rosette glassed with colourless and yellow glass above the main door, whose ornament is created by the metal graphic openwork replicating the motive of the rosette placed in the centre of the ceiling in the main hall.

During the whole period of the functioning of the kenesa, regular service was held and several senior priests worked there during different periods. On 15 September 1928, it hosted the ingress, or the inauguration ceremony, of Khaji Seraya Khan Shapshal, a newly elected highest priest and secular leader. In 1949, the Religious Cults Board under the Council of Ministers of the former USSR issued a decree instructing to close down the kenesa. During the 40 years following the nationalisation of the kenesa, it housed a club with dance parties, afterwards a trust, the archive of the geodesy department, and later, when floor panels were mounted, the kenesa was reorganised into two apartments for dwellers. For an unknown reason, the safe box of Vilnius Cathedral was transferred to the kenesa after its nationalisation. On 7 April 1989, the safe box was returned to the Cathedral. The kenesa was returned to the Karaim community on 23 September 1988. After its restauration on 14 October 1993, the kenesa was re-consecrated. It is now a functioning kenesa with religious service being held during religious festivals.

On 12 October 1912, Vilnius City Duma made another important decision: they allocated the land plot next to the kenesa for the construction of a wooden community house with an attic (with a mezzanine). Brothers Józef (1860-1945) and Romuald (1857-1913) Lopatto were the benefactors who financed the construction. The names of both brothers are carved in the monument meant for paying respect to the memory of Vilnius benefactors, an Apple, which was opened in Vilnius in 2011 at the beginning of Vivulskio Street.

The area of the kenesa is 180 m2. Having come inside, one gets into a small porch where all believers gather before the service. There is a small service room for the priest to change clothes and prepare for the service. The porch leads to the main hall. Women pray in the balcony which can be reached from the porch by a rather narrow and steep staircase.

Karaims may pray both individually, on their own, or in congregation in kenesa, when they can concentrate on the prayer better. In both cases it is necessary to set the mind respectively and prepare for the service: to wash themselves thoroughly and dress up neatly. The House of the Lord should be entered in the mood of obedience and collectedness and with God’s love in one’ heart. Karaims believe that the value of a prayer depends not on the number of words but rather on the depth of feelings, devoutness and faith, on the determination to repent and forgive others. During the service, peace and concentration must be observed in kenesa. The Karaim liturgy is based on David’s psalms and the songs and hymns written by Karaim theologists and poets. During the service, the believers recite the prayers glorifying the Lord, also thanksgiving, repentance, beseeching, and creed prayers. The order of the service is similar in all kenesas. At the beginning of the service, together with the priest saying the well-known prayer “Atamyz ki kiokliardia” (“Our Father”), all men gather in the main hall. All believers repeat this prayer at the beginning and end of all religious services. The priest prays at the cathedral located in the hall at the foot of the altar. Depending on the type of the prayer, he prays standing or kneeling, always facing the South where the altar is located. All people praying act in the same way.

The porch leads to the main hall, where facing the door in the southern part of the hall there is an altar three steps above the floor in the trapezium-shaped niche. The dome of the niche is decorated with a geometrical ornament, with its edges supported by four columns at both sides, the columns being decorated with marble imitation. Column capitals are supported by vertical rectangular pillars framed in white. The side walls have horizontal rectangular panels decorated with a painted plat band ornament between lighting fixtures.There is a cathedral at the foot of the altar, the place for the priest to pray. On the right and left of the hall, there are wooden benches with high backrests for men to pray. All benches are newly made from pine wood.

Women pray in the balcony which can be reached from the porch by a rather narrow and steep staircase. There are a few simple benches in the balcony whereon, if necessary, one may sit. Four columns with engraved decorative capitals supporting the dome are located at both sides of the balcony, while the protruding balcony is separated by a low openwork concrete baluster. Its ornament replicates the elements of the dome rosettes above the main door. This drawing was also used to reproduce the grid of partition walls in the main hall. The grid is made from pine stiles.

During the major repairs of the kenesa in 1989-1993, the inside layout of the interior was restored, which included the removal of horizontal floor panels and other reinforcements installed when reorganising the kenesa into two apartments. Restoration specialists restored stucco mouldings, the crumbled plaster plat band of the ceiling crowns in the whole premises, made new window frames, stained glass, renewed column capitals, painted the walls and laid new parquet flooring everywhere.

“Kenesas – the temples of the Lithuanian Karaims” opens the door – both literally and figuratively – to two fascinating architectural monuments not normally accessible to external visitors. Through pictures, panoramas, written texts and recorded comments, it conveys the history of these buildings, shedding light on their many peculiarities and architectural details. Conceived as a virtual tour and employing an architectural lens, “Kenesas – the temples of the Lithuanian Karaims” familiarizes the visitor with unique moments in the life of the Lithuanian Karaims, drawing attention to their rich and varied, but often under-appreciated cultural heritage.

There are two kenesas left in Lithuania, one in Trakai and another one in Vilnius. Both bear witness to the deep and eloquent cultural heritage of the Lithuanian Karaims, but they are also state-protected monuments of Lithuanian architecture as such. “Kenesas – the temples of the Lithuanian Karaims” will celebrate this heritage to mark the year 2022, declared “Year of the Lithuanian Karaims” by the Lithuanian parliament.

• The project is carried out by The Cultural Association of the Lithuanian Karaims (curators Karina Firkavičiūtė and Evelina Evelina Juchnevič)(www.karaim.eu)
• With the support of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture
• Contractors – Inverse and Gidas360
• Project partners: The religious community of the Lithuanian Karaims, with special support from community members, and from Gerd Schönwälder for English and German translations
• Based on the publication: Kobeckaite, H. The temples of Lithuanian Karaims – kenesas. Vilnius, 2019. Translated from Lithuanian by Monika Matulevičiūtė