In the second half of the 16th century masonry synagogues whose interiors present an original structural solution, found in no other kind of building, were constructed in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. These were synagogue halls whose bimah was surrounded by four pillars. Placed upon a podium, connected above by arcading, in one powerful pier, the pillars constituted the "bimah-support" (or "bimah-tower") supporting the vault, consisting of four barrels witl lunettes intersecting at the corners. The bases of the vault-rips rested on the podium or were transmitted through a balustrade, solid or pierced. A small cupola covered the field above the bimah. These cupolas were occasionally significantly lowered in comparison with the remaining fields of vaulting. Thus a kind of inner chapel, built inside the bimah-tower, was created.