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Dushanbe, Tajikistan - Tajikistan's ancient Jewish community lost its only remaining synagogue in downtown Dushanbe, as authorities decided to tear down old buildings in the synagogue's neighborhood so that yet another presidential palace can be built.

The one-story synagogue was located in the city center, where authorities have begun construction of the so-called Palace of the Nation -- a luxurious presidential complex complete with parks and fountains.

For the city's several hundred Jews, the synagogue was both a place for religious services and a community center. Many of the Jews are elderly and poor, and the synagogue was a place where they could also get a free meal.

The Jewish community has been offered a plot of land on a distant edge of the city to build a new synagogue at their own expense. However, the members of the community -- who were not compensated for the loss of their synagogue -- say they cannot afford to build a new house of worship in the far-away area.

The demolition of the 100-year-old synagogue and all other buildings in the neighborhood took place under the Dushanbe city administration's long-standing and controversial urban-renewal project.

The destruction of the synagogue actually began in February 2006 when the ritual bath, kosher butcher shop, and religious classrooms were bulldozed.

But pressure from regional and international Jewish groups led to the demolition process being temporarily halted.

But earlier this year, Dushanbe's Firdavsi district authorities sued synagogue leaders for disregarding the city administration's instructions to vacate the building.

David Kyselkov, the deputy rabbi of the Dushanbe synagogue, said both the district court and an appeals court ruled in favor of the local authorities.

"There were court trials in the district and the city but they decided it was necessary to demolish [the synagogue]. The city appeals court, too, did not change the initial verdict. The decision remains the same: demolition," Kyselkov said.

The synagogue was built in the early 1900s when there were at least two Jewish quarters in Dushanbe.

There are currently about 1,000 Jews living in Tajikistan and they say that more than anything else, their last remaining synagogue held great historic significance for them.

Despite that, many Dushanbe Jews have apparently resigned themselves to having lost the synagogue and remain hopeful that Tajik authorities will offer them a suitable place for a new synagogue -- and the resources to build it.