An Aesopian synagogue is one that was built with its true purpose disguised. This term is used in relation to the former Russian Empire where there were severe restrictions against the building of Jewish places of worship. To get around the rules, architects would build a "mansion" or some other building that would end up being used as a synagogue. The word Aesopian is usually used with language, where it means "carrying a double meaning", a reference to the fables of Aesop. Examples Brodsky Choral Synagogue, Kyiv Galitska Synagogue, Kyiv Great Choral Synagogue, Kyiv Königsberg Synagogue, Kaliningrad See also Stadttempel, Vienna, Austria, fitted into a block of houses and hidden from plain view of the street, because of an edict from the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II References Jewish Ukrainian history Jews and Judaism in the Russian Empire