Old New Synagogue, Gothic synagogue in Josefov, Czech Republic
The Old New Synagogue is a stone synagogue in Josefov, Prague, with a steep red tiled roof and a prominent gable facing the viewer. The walls are pale yellow, with tall pointed-arch windows in the upper gable and thin vertical buttresses dividing the facade. A lower walled section with a rounded-arch doorway fronts a small planted area.
Stone masons from the royal workshop built the house of worship in 1270, when Prague Jews erected their first permanent stone structures. The congregation has used the space for services ever since, making it the oldest active religious building of its kind on the continent.
The prayer room centers on a raised platform enclosed by a wrought-iron grille dating from the 13th century. The banner of the Prague Jewish Community hangs on the wall, showing a six-pointed star.
Visitors can only enter the interior as part of a guided tour of the Jewish quarter, which should be booked in advance. The space is small and allows only a limited number of people at a time.
The lowest three metres of the outside staircase to the attic were removed, and the attic stays closed to the public. A 2014 survey of the space found no trace of the Golem that Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel is said to have made. A wartime tale holds that a Nazi agent who entered the genizah died there, and the Gestapo never went up.
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