Jewish Museum in Prague, Museum in the Josefov Jewish Quarter, Prague, Czech Republic
The Jewish Museum in Prague is not a single building but a group of historic sites spread across Josefov, the old Jewish Quarter in Prague's Old Town. It brings together several synagogues, including the Spanish and Klausen Synagogues, along with the Old Jewish Cemetery, which is known for its layers of graves stacked over centuries.
The Josefov neighborhood was almost entirely torn down at the end of the 19th century to make way for new construction. Only a handful of synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery survived, and these became the foundation of what is now the museum.
The Pinkas Synagogue now serves as a memorial, with its walls covered in the names of nearly 80,000 Jewish victims from Bohemia and Moravia who were killed during World War II. On the upper floor, drawings made by children held at Terezín before deportation are on display, giving a very direct sense of what was lost.
All the museum sites can be visited with a single ticket, except for the Old-New Synagogue, which requires a separate entry. A full visit takes several hours, so it is worth arriving early to make the most of the day.
The Old-New Synagogue, part of the museum complex, is the oldest active synagogue in Europe and is still used for religious services today. According to local legend, its attic still holds the remains of the Golem, a figure made of clay from Prague's Jewish folklore.
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