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Old-New Synagogue

The Old-New Synagogue (Staronová synagoga) is the oldest active synagogue in Europe and one of the earliest Gothic buildings in Prague, founded around 1270. It stands in Josefov, the city's Jewish quarter, and remains in use as a place of worship for Prague's Jewish community. Visitors enter via a nine-step staircase leading to a vestibule that opens onto a double nave with six vaults; two large pillars support the interior, and between them stands the bimah from which the Torah scrolls are read. The tympanum above the entrance is decorated with twelve vines and twelve bunches of grapes representing the twelve tribes of Israel, a motif repeated at the base of the bimah. The twelve narrow Gothic windows, six on each side, likewise allude to the twelve tribes. On the east wall stands the Ark of the Torah, with five steps and two round stained-glass windows on either side. The synagogue follows Orthodox custom, with separate seating for men and women; women sit in an outer hall with small windows looking onto the main sanctuary. Near the west pillar hangs a red flag embroidered in gold with a Star of David and a Jewish hat, alongside the text of the Shema Yisrael; the flag on display today is a modern reproduction. In the attic, according to legend, lies the body of the Golem created by Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, although the attic is not open to the public and searches have found no trace of it. The synagogue has survived fires, the demolition of the ghetto in the late 19th century, and numerous pogroms.

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