Prague Jewish Quarter Tour

Prague’s Jewish Quarter, founded in the 11th century, is a unique historical site, marked by prosperity, suffering and cultural resilience. During this tour, you will learn about the evolution of Josefov from its earliest settlements to its transformation into a walled ghetto following a devastating medieval genocide.

Your guide will lead you through the neighbourhood’s most significant sites, explaining how the community flourished from the 13th century onwards with the construction of the Old-New Synagogue, and how it reached its peak of splendour during the tenure of Mayor Maisel, whose legacy can still be seen today.

One of the most striking highlights of the tour is the Jewish Cemetery, used between the 15th and 18th centuries, which preserves more than 60,000 graves laid one on top of the other due to a lack of space. Walking through this place is like stepping back 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 led to the preservation of thousands of objects, which today form the largest collection of Jewish art and artefacts in Europe.

Here are some of the main sites you’ll visit during the tour

• Pinkas Synagogue: its most striking feature is the walls, on which the names of 80,000 Czech Jewish victims are hand-painted.
• Klausen Synagogue: this is the largest synagogue in Prague’s Jewish Quarter and the only example of an early Baroque synagogue in the ghetto.
• Maisel Synagogue: it houses a museum and is built in the Renaissance and Neo-Gothic styles.
• Jewish Cemetery: it is estimated that there are approximately 12,000 visible graves, in which more than 100,000 Jews are buried.
  
  

This tour does not merely recount historical events: it connects the past and the present, offering an essential insight into Jewish culture in Prague and the extraordinary legacy that has endured to this day.