Maisel Synagogue

Why go

This is a useful first stop for historical context before seeing Josefov's other sites. The exhibition ranges across centuries of Jewish life in the Bohemian lands, while the building itself shows how the quarter changed. Its present Gothic-looking exterior belongs to a later rebuilding of a synagogue founded by Mordechai Maisel.

What to look for

• The exterior has a Neo-Gothic appearance from a later reconstruction.
• The exhibition traces Jewish life from the tenth century to the Enlightenment.
• The building stands on the site of Maisel's sixteenth-century synagogue.

The full story

Mordechai Maisel, a leading benefactor of Prague's Jewish quarter, secured permission to build his synagogue in the late sixteenth century. A major fire in 1689 damaged the building, and subsequent rebuilding changed its shape. The Neo-Gothic exterior visitors see today came from another transformation around the turn of the twentieth century, when much of Josefov was being remade. The contrast between foundation and façade is a useful warning against treating the quarter as one frozen period. Inside, the exhibition reaches back beyond Maisel's time to the early history of Jewish life in the Bohemian lands and carries it through the Enlightenment. Compare it with the Spanish Synagogue to see two very different nineteenth-century architectural choices within a few streets of each other.

Useful to know

• Start here if you want background before visiting the Old-New Synagogue and cemetery.
• Allow time for the exhibition as well as a look at the altered exterior.

Your next visit

Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.