Prague Jewish Quarter Tour

Prague's Jewish quarter, founded in the 11th century, is a unique historical ensemble, marked by prosperity, suffering and cultural resistance. During this tour, you will learn about the evolution of Josefov from its earliest settlements to its conversion into a walled ghetto after a devastating medieval genocide.

Your English-speaking guide will lead you through the highlights of the neighbourhood, explaining how the community flourished from the 13th century with the construction of the Old-New Synagogue, and how it reached its greatest splendour during the rule of Mayor Maisel, whose legacy can still be seen today.

One of the most striking points of the tour is the Jewish Cemetery, used between the 15th and 18th centuries and preserving more than 60,000 overlapping graves due to lack of space. To walk through this place is to enter into centuries of memory and tradition.

During the 20th century, Josefov survived almost intact for a reason as obscure as it is real: Hitler's perverse interest in turning it into a "museum of the vanished race". This decision meant that thousands of objects were preserved, forming today the largest collection of Jewish art and artefacts in Europe.

These are some of the main places you will visit during the tour

• Pinkas Synagogue: the most striking feature of thePinkas Synagogue are the walls, where the names of 80,000 Czech Jewish victims are hand-painted.
• Klausen Synagogue: the largest synagogue in Prague's Jewish quarter and the only example of an early Baroque synagogue in the ghetto.
• Maisel Synagogue: houses a museum and is in Renaissance and neo-Gothic style.
• Jewish Cemetery: it is estimated that there are approximately 12,000 apparently visible graves, in which more than 100,000 Jews are buried.
  
  

This tour does not only narrate historical facts: it connects past and present, offering an indispensable insight into Jewish culture in Prague and the extraordinary legacy that has endured to this day.