The "Jewish Ghetto" first came into being in the 13th Century when the Vatican put out an order that the Jewish community should be isolated in their own distinct district. The first 'ghetto' was established in the city of Venice and subsequently all major European cities have their own Jewish Quarter.
The Jewish Quarter of Prague occupied quite a large area of the Old Town. It started out as a poor district but was redeveloped over the years with proper planning and designs.
Prague used to have almost 120,000 Jews residing in the city. During the Nazi Years, about 80,000 of them were first sent to the Terrazin Ghetto ( about 70 km away from the city) before being finally sent to 'extermination camps' where most of them perished. Only a few hundreds survived and came home to Josefov. Today the Jewish Quarter is one of the tourist attractions of the city. A 1-day pass allowed one to visit 6 places of interest which are mostly synagogues and a Jewish cemetery. The synagogues have exhibitions on the history of the Jewish community and highlight the lives and works of some of their great personalities in their fields of work. Elements of the beliefs, rituals and practices of the Jewish religion were also on display.
the two pictures above were taken at the Spanish Synagougethis is the most pretty of the ones pakdokter toured
its interior had Moorish designs
everyday at 530 pm, the synagogue has a musical
performance of music by Gershwin by a small group
of musicians who are members of the Prague Philharmonic...
the New Synagogue...
the Old Synagogue..
there were 3 synagogues around the Jewish cemetery
that could be toured in the one-day pass..
the above being one of them..
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