Dohány Street Synagogue

Europe’s largest synagogue, dating from the mid-1800s, can’t be missed. The Byzantine-Moorish–inspired white-and-red-brick structure, located on a main thoroughfare at the edge of the Jewish Quarter, was heavily damaged during World War II and restored in large part through private donations (Hungarian-born Tony Curtis, Estée Lauder and Yitzhak Rabin all contributed to the restoration and memorial). Unique to this synagogue is the small graveyard beside it (in Judaism, graveyards are usually separate from the place of worship); this is actually a mass grave from the Nazi era, and is kept as a sober reminder. Behind it you’ll find the city’s Holocaust Memorial, a metal sculpture of a weeping willow by Imre Varga.