The walls of the old synagogue witnessed many landmark events in Polish history: Tadeusz Kościuszko spoke in front of the synagogue, calling on them to fight for the freedom of their common homeland. At that time, he uttered, among other things, these words: ‘I desire nothing for myself; I care only about the deplorable state of my homeland and the happiness of all its inhabitants, to which he also includes Jews.’It was visited by President Ignacy Moscicki.  Its history probably dates back to 1494, when the Jews, blamed for starting a fire, were forced to move to Kazimierz as punishment. When it burned down decades later, Matteo Gucci of Florence was iresponsible for its restoration. Despite being enriched with a women's and singers' hall, the synagogue has retained its Gothic character, albeit with Renaissance elements.  The synagogue burned several more times, the last fire occurring in 1773. In 1786 and 1797, Rabbi Izaak Lewita twice cursed the Kraków Hasidim in the synagogue.

In 1888, the board of trustees of the Kraków Jewish community decided to start renovation and partial reconstruction of the synagogue. Jan Ertl made the architectural plans.

 In 1891, Jan Sas-Zubrzycki drew up a project to reconstruct the synagogue's western façade in connection with the earlier demolition of the Kahal building, which was adjacent to the body of the building on its west side.  Sas-Zubrzycki's design was based on the facade of the building and included architectural elements that had always been characteristic of it. At that time, a small porch was also built to facilitate access to the babinets located on the first floor of the western part of the synagogue.

In 1904, restoration work continued on the synagogue according to plans drawn up by the architect Zygmunt Hendel. He intended to accentuate the building's attic and designed two portals to the granary and the portal to the main entrance. Hendel also drew up the design for the reconstruction of the west elevation. He created new window and door stonework using arched forms and ear-shaped frames.  He added a turret to the north end of the east wall. He also designed the wrought-iron fence.

In 1909, Ferdinand Liebling prepared a cost estimate for the works. These were to include renovating the retaining walls, rebuilding the granary's roof, building a new roof truss structure over the main prayer hall, drawing up window stonework and fitting window grilles.   Due to insufficient funding, the work was put on hold for a year and a half.

In 1913, restoration and construction work began and continued until the outbreak of the First World War.

Work resumed in 1923. The scope of the work included only the reconstruction of the part housing the main entrance –  a second floor was added, in which a small museum with synagogue and household equipment was set up.

The synagogue was plundered and destroyed during the Second World War  and it was able to delight again.after renovationin the 1950s.

Today, the synagogue is one of Europe's most valuable monuments of Jewish religious architecture.  Every year in the square in front of the synagogue (until the pandemic), the Saturday Shalom na Szerokiej concert was held as part of the Jewish Culture Festival. It houses a vibrant collection, including unique artefacts of Jewish history and culture (the permanent exhibition is devoted to the history and culture of the Jews of Kraków).