The Ghetto
Ghetto ( židovske ghetto ) - Prague' s old Jewish Ghetto occupies a part of the Stare Mesto quarter and is important both in terms of its size and the cultural and tourist interest it provokes.
The Josefov quarter takes its name from the Emperor Joseph II. The first Jewish settlements in Prague appeared around the 10th century, and by the 17th century more than 7000 Jews had made the city their home. Persecutions, fires and plundering were regular occurrences throughout the centuries, making life difficult for the Jewish community. Towards the middle of the 18th century Maria Theresa of Habsburg decreed that the Jews should be driven out. Later that century, however, the Emperor Joseph II had the walls of the Ghetto demolished, restoring both the Jewish quarter itself, and its administrative status. The area was named Josefov in his honour. Jews were not granted Civil rights until 1848.
The period of Nazi occupation in Prague ( 1939-1945 ) was the darkest time for the Jewish community whose members became the object of persecutions and deportations. It is estimated that 90% of Bohemian and Moravian Jews were killed during the Second World War. The group of buildings, used for religious and non - religious purposes, which, together with the cemetery, make up the Ghetto, has now been transformed into a kind of large open - air museum.
One of the most beautiful architectural features of the Ghetto is the Jewish Town Hall ( Židovska radnice ), a Renaissance building which dates from the second half of the 16th century. It was remodelled in Baroque style in the latter half of the 18th century, and extended at the beginning of the 20th century. Note the unusual clock situated in the tympanum, under the small clock tower: it has Hebrew figures and the hands move in an anticlockwise direction.
JEWISH QUARTER
After a short walk through the Old Town, you' ll visit the Old Jewish Quarter, also known as Josefov. The earliest mention of Jewish merchants and their activities in Prague dates back to the beginning of the 10th century. Josefov was separated from the Old Town by walls and gates. The whole area was renewed in the years 1896 - 1911, replaced by the new, mostly art nouveau, buildings. From the original Jewish Quarter only some parts have been preserved, including the network of streets, the town hall, six synagogues, and most of the Old Jewish Cemetery. The Jewish Museum, founded in 1906, is located here, with its richest collection of the Jewish heritage relics in the world. The Old Jewish Ghetto has a one - of - a - kind, secretive atmosphere, product of centuries. You' ll easily be able to imagine Rabbi Lowe and his grand creation, the Golem. You' ll also see the Old Jewish Cemetery ( 15th century - 12, 000 Jewish graves preserved ), the Old - New Synagogue ( 13th century - the oldest preserved synagogue in Europe ), the Klausen Synagogue ( 16th century ), the Pinkas Synagogue ( 16th century ), the Spanish Synagogue ( 19th century ), and the Town Hall of the Jewish Quarter ( 16th century ).
Synagogues
There are many synagogues in the Jewish quarter.
The High Synagogue ( Vysaka synagoga ) was built in the second half of the 16th century, to a design by P. Roder. In the 19th century restoration work was carried out to separate it from the Town Hall. The central, square hall, originally Renaissance in style, was transformed in the 17th - 19th centuries and remodelled in neo - Renaissance style. Note the magnificent stellar vaulting. The rooms of the synagogue are used for exhibitions by the State Jewish Museum ( they contain vestments, manuscripts and precious ornaments ).
The Old - New Synagogue ( Staronova synagoga ), originally Gothic in design, was extended in Cistercian Gothic style in the 13th century. Further modifications and additions were completed between the 15th and 18th centuries. Renovation and restoration work was also carried out in the 19th - 20th centuries. The synagogue is still used for religious functions.
A Statue of Moses by F. Bilek can be seen in the adjoining park.
The 17th century Klausen Synagogue ( Klausova synagoga ) is built on the site once occupied by the Jewish School of Löw ben Bezalel, a 16th century Rabbi and philosopher. The Baroque building houses a collection of prints and manuscripts.
The earliest religious building on the site of today' s Pinkas Synagogue ( Pinkasova synagoga ), probably a ritual bath, is said to date from the 11th - 12th centuries. In the first half of the 16th century a late Gothic synagogue was constructed in the building which had been the home of Rabbi Pinkas ( hence the modern name ). This was rebuilt and enlarged in the first half of the 17th century, in late Renaissance style. In the 1950s the synagogue became the seat of the Memorial of the 77, 297, a monument erected in memory of the victims of the Holocaust.
The building which today houses the Spanish Synagogue ( Spanelska synagoga ) bears some striking Moorish features, added in the second half of the 19th century. The temple interior is strongly reminiscent of the Alhambra in Granada. The synagogue owes its name to a community of Iberian Jews who came to Prague to escape persecution. It has been destroyed by fire and rebuilt several times, and occupies the site of the Old School, the oldest synagogue in the city ( 12th century ).
The Maisel Synagogue ( Maiselova synagoga ) takes its name from the mayor of the Jewish quarter at the time of Rudolph II. It was built in Renaissance style at the end of the 16th century, and reconstructed in Baroque style about a century later, after a fire. The building as it appears today was restored in neo - Gothic style between the 19th and 20th centuries. The interior houses the splendid exhibition of Silver from Bohemian Synagogues, including interesting examples of Baroque and Rococo art by Augsburg, Nuremberg and Viennese craftsmen, as well as decorations and treasures from various eras, collected from synagogues and private homes.
