The Great Synagogue is located in Belváros,
the inner city of Pest. It is the largest Neolog Jewish synagogue
in the world and the largest synagogue in Europe. Construction was
completed in 1859, and it was enlarged in 1931. It was built in
the Moorish style, although the basilica-like ground plan and cloister-like
arcade are Christian in style.
The Neolog movement was the Hungarian equivalent of the German Reform
movement in Judaism that began in the early 1800s. Reform Judaism
never flourished in Europe but became a major branch of Judaism
in the United States.