The Jewish Quarter of Prague

Our first day in Prague was filled with interesting and diverse architecture, a beautiful mix of old and new, and all the winding alleys that lead you to another area that has a different story to tell. One of the areas I found most interesting was the Jewish quarter. This area of Prague dates back to the 10^th century however, it has seen a number of changes over the years. Although close to two thirds of the Jewish population in Prague was decimated in the second world war, much of this area was preserved because Hitler intended to use Prague as a, “exotic museum of an extinct race” (Jewish Prague). Although it is a fine line when you enter the Jewish Quarter you notice a now very prosperous part of the city, and the beautifully designed synagogues. I found the Spanish Synagogue most interesting because it exemplifies historic Islamic style that measures the cooperative relationship between Islam and Judaism at the time it was built in the 1860’s, also linked to the Jewish culture in Spain.

Another interesting part of the Jewish quarter was the cemetery. It lies about two meters above street level and all you can see from the street is a tall wall blocked in with two buildings and grass on top. Part of the Jewish tradition is that they must bury their dead and here in Prague they began to run out of room, so they began layering burials on top of each other. It is very eerie seeing all of the tombstones crowded together. Although we did not enter the cemetery because it is only included in the Jewish history tour.

The Old-New synagogue was another highlight of our trip through the Jewish quarter. Apparently it is one of the oldest medieval synagogues still standing dating back to the 13^th century. It exemplifies a dark gothic style. This structure is quite significant because it is said to be built on stones from the temple of Jerusalem (Old-New Synagogue Information). The achitecture that is seen here is typical gothic and when this was first built this type of architecture was rather new to Prague, but is now seen throughout the city.

All of these changes that have occurred over the long history of Prague can be seen in the scope of the city. Where a moat used to be there is now a street and what was once the poorest part of town is now the most prosperous, the Jewish quarter, this can all be seen as evidence of urbanization changing this once medieval city. The Jews used to be secluded to only this area which was originally on the outskirts of Prague and bordered by the Vlatava river, but now it is obvious that Prague has expanded widely around it in all directions (Prague Map-Josefov is the Jewish Quarter). If it were not for our free walking tour I don’t know how much I would have seen or experienced in the Jewish quarter but it was really valuable to the time we spent in Prague.