One of my favourite things to do when I visit any new country is visit the Jewish Quarter.

Prague has a rich history of Jewish culture and a really nice Jewish Quarter to visit. I spent the entire day visiting the different Synagogues. Each one comes with its own unique history and stunning architecture. The quarter has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1992, and is home to one of the oldest operating temples in Europe. I spent the day just enjoying the architecture and although I have notes about all the facts for each one, I have no idea where I put them. One day I’ll come back to this if I ever find those notes.

The first on the list was the Old/New Synagogue. It was built in 1270 and according to prague.eu/en/objevujte/old-new-synagogue-staronova-synagoga:

Legend says that the ancestors of the Prague Jews built the Old New Synagogue as long as two thousand years ago, after the destruction of the so called Second Temple in Jerusalem (which happened in the year 70 A.D.) Hewn blocks from the shattered Jerusalem sanctuary were brought to Prague by heavenly angels, who built a beautiful chapel here. When the Messiah comes to gather the children of Israel, the angels will bring the blocks back to Jerusalem to build a new Jerusalem sanctuary, the third already.

The next Synagogue I visited was the Pinkas Synagogue. It was built in 1479 and is the entrance to the cemetery. This Synagogue has been turned into a memorial for the 77,297 Jews who died in the Holocaust. The names of all the victims cover the walls of the temple as a reminder that their memory will always be a blessing.

I continued the tour and wandered to the Maisel Synagogue. This one was built in the 16th century. It is now a museum and collection of all things Jewish culture.

The next on the list was the Klausen Synagogue, which is the largest of the collection in the quarter. It was built in 1694, and focused on Jewish cultures and traditions.

I followed this by a walk to the Spanish Synagogue, which was built in 1868 and looks a lot like the Alhambra in Spain.

I enjoyed the tour of the quarter and spending some time with the culture. It was nice to see people actually taking in all of the names of the people who died and seeing how important the culture is to the city.

It was a great way to end the trip. I highly recommend that people visit Prague. The food is good, the people are lovely and the city is easy to navigate with no shortage of history.