Synagogue in the Mikhailovsky Castle

In 1827, Nicholas I issued a decree "On the Recruit Duty," according to which Jews were required to serve in the army. During his reign, about 3,000 Jewish soldiers lived in St. Petersburg, and they were not prohibited from establishing communities and attending synagogue. These were, of course, not separate buildings—they were located in rented apartments and barracks.

Soldiers' prayer rooms were located in the city center, in various places. Sometimes even near palaces. For example, there was a soldiers' synagogue in the Kryukov Barracks, where the Naval Museum is now located. There was a prayer room there that gathered about three hundred people.

Another interesting and detective-like detail. After the assassination of Paul I, the Mikhailovsky Castle was vacated by members of the royal family, and the palace was handed over to various military institutions. But interestingly, in the complex of buildings of the Engineering Castle, but not in the castle itself, from 1838 to 1856 there was a Jewish soldiers' synagogue. It was specially allocated for Jewish soldiers by the military authorities, who noted the significant contribution of Jewish army craftsmen who participated in the restoration of the Winter Palace after the fire of 1837.

About 400 people gathered for prayer in the synagogue at the castle. When the military decided to quarter a new unit (a galvanic company) in the castle, the military authorities asked for the synagogue to be removed and were surprised to discover that people had been coming there to pray for almost 20 years—coming from different garrisons of St. Petersburg, even from the territory of the Peter and Paul Fortress. It was a basement room without windows, containing silver ritual objects and other ceremonial items, which the soldiers took and distributed among various prayer rooms in St. Petersburg after the synagogue was closed. Later, the military department rented an apartment for them at the corner of Shcherbakov Lane and the Fontanka River: there was a synagogue for men and a prayer room for women. This building still survives today.

Source:

https://paperpaper.ru/sinagoga-pri-mihajlovskom-zamke-evre/