Old Jewish Quarter (Josefov)

The Jewish Quarter dates back to the thirteenth century, but due to intensive development between 1893 and 1913 only a few significant buildings remain. Despite the destruction of what had been the Jewish ghetto to provide space for some of the city's notable art-nouveau buildings, it is still an outstandingly beautiful area with the best collection of Jewish historical monuments in Europe, including the Jewish Town Hall, Old Jewish Cemetery and a number of superbly preserved or restored synagogues.

The gothic Old-New Synagogue opened in 1270 and is the oldest surviving synagogue in Europe. Austere from the outside, its interior is warm with old wood and soft light, containing the seat used by the ghetto's most famous son, the sixteenth-century Rabbi Loew. The Old Jewish Cemetery was used for almost 350 years until 1787 and has many remarkable ancient gravestones. The Moorish-style Spanish Synagogue is the newest in the Jewish Quarter, dating from 1868, and has recently reopened after extensive refurbishment. The clock on the tower of the sixteenth-century Jewish Town Hall has Hebrew figures and hands that rotate counter-clockwise.