The Bukovina Jewish Heritage Route: From Siret to Vatra Dornei

A one- or two-day route from Suceava through five towns that were once home to thousands of Jews: Siret, Rădăuți, Solca, Gura Humorului, Câmpulung Moldovenesc and Vatra Dornei — passing the painted monasteries of Bukovina along the way.

Before You Set Out

Most of these towns no longer have an active Jewish community, and the synagogues and cemeteries are locked. Arrange in advance with the Suceava community (Strada Armenească 8) or the community in Rădăuți to find out who holds the keys. Distances in this article are approximate driving distances from Rome2Rio.

Siret: The Cemetery Everyone Argues About

Siret, about 44 km north of Suceava, was an early Moldavian capital. According to Pinkas HaKehillot, a Jewish goldsmith served the ruler of Moldavia as early as 1371. In 1880 the town had 3,122 Jews, 43.1% of its population. From 1936 the rabbinate was headed by Rabbi Baruch Hager of the Vizhnitz dynasty, who founded a yeshiva here; after the war he moved to Haifa and founded a yeshiva there too.

The Great Temple at Strada Teiului 4 is the only synagogue left, with an ornate Torah ark and a plaque to the Jews murdered in Transnistria. The town has three cemeteries, and the old one is regarded as among the oldest in Romania. Pinkas HaKehillot cites gravestones from 1560, but the full survey by Jewish Galicia & Bukovina (2021–2022) catalogued more than 300 stones, the earliest dated 1750, and the Encyclopaedia Judaica speaks of graves “from the early 18th century.” Siret no longer has a Jewish community.

Rădăuți: The Twin-Towered Temple

About 19 km from Siret. The Moorish-style Great Temple was dedicated in 1883 and rededicated after restoration in 2012; it houses an exhibition on the town’s Jews. The cemetery at Strada Ștefan cel Mare 131, with thousands of stones, is one of the largest in the region. Rădăuți has its own article.

Solca: A Spa Town

About 23 km from Rădăuți. In 1900 Solca had about 281 Jews, roughly a tenth of its population, and between the wars most guests at the spa were Jewish. A small cemetery survives at the edge of town, fenced with barbed wire.

Gura Humorului: The Timber Town

About 21 km from Solca. In 1788 a single Jew lived in Gura Humorului; five families settled in 1835. The Jews were Sadagura and Vizhnitz Hasidim and led the region’s timber industry; by 1910 there were 2,050. According to Hugo Gold, the Great Synagogue was built in 1871, funded by industrialist Wolf Kleinberg (other sources say 1860). One synagogue survives, renovated.

The cemetery, founded in 1857, has about 2,060 graves and is cared for by the association of descendants of the town’s Jews. Sara Schmidt, mother of the tenor Joseph Schmidt, is buried here. The town was also the birthplace of bridge champion Rixi Markus (1910) and Oscar-winning director Nathan Juran (1907). The Humor and Voroneț monasteries are close by.

Câmpulung Moldovenesc: A Synagogue Without a Community

About 34 km from Gura Humorului. Jews lived in Câmpulung by 1684; there were about 3,500 in 1913 and 18 in 2004. The Havre Gah temple was built in 1894 according to G4Media, or 1874 according to other lists. In October 2022 the city hall took it over for 25 years, to conserve and restore it and to include it in the visitor circuit of the Museum of Woodwork Art; the town also twinned with Karmiel. The mayor said then that the Jewish community had “completely disappeared.” The composer Leibu Levin (1914–1983) was born here.

Vatra Dornei: The Spa Town

About 41 km from Câmpulung. Jewish hoteliers were among those who developed the spa of Vatra Dornei; in 1930 the town had 1,737 Jews, 22.3% of the population. The Great Temple on Strada Mihai Eminescu was built around 1900. Its condition today is unclear — one list calls it ruined, while a visitor in 2015 described it as renovated — so check before you go. The cemetery is at Strada Negrești 30, on a hill next to the Christian cemetery. The writer Asher Barash is associated with the town.

Suggested Itineraries

• One day (about 160 km): Suceava → Siret → Rădăuți → Solca → Gura Humorului → Suceava.
• Two days: day one as above, overnight in Gura Humorului; day two on to Câmpulung and Vatra Dornei, returning to Suceava (about 95 km).
• Extension: Fălticeni, about 23 km from Suceava, founded in 1779–1780 under a princely privilege; Pinkas HaKehillot calls it the first Romanian town founded by Jews. Its Great Synagogue was rebuilt in 1852, and it has two cemeteries. The painter Reuven Rubin was born here.