Jewish Quarter

The Jewish Quarter (Josefov) is Prague's former Jewish ghetto, one of the oldest and most significant Jewish heritage sites in Europe, and part of the UNESCO-listed Historic Centre of Prague since 1992. Jews have lived in this area since the 10th century; confined to a walled ghetto from the 13th century, the community survived pogroms, expulsions, and the Holocaust, of which fewer than 10,000 of Prague's 56,000 pre-war Jewish residents survived. Today the quarter is administered by the Jewish Museum in Prague, which encompasses six historic synagogues — including the Old-New Synagogue, the oldest active synagogue in Europe, built around 1270 — and the Old Jewish Cemetery, where up to 100,000 people are buried in as many as 12 layers due to the shortage of space. The quarter is also the birthplace of Franz Kafka, and a bronze monument to him stands near the Spanish Synagogue.