Old New Synagogue

The Old-New Synagogue (Staronová synagoga) is the oldest active synagogue in Europe, completed around 1270 and in continuous use for over 750 years — with the sole exception of the Nazi occupation from 1942 to 1945. It is one of the earliest Gothic buildings in Prague and the only synagogue in Josefov administered directly by the Prague Jewish Community rather than the Jewish Museum. Unlike most historic synagogues, it was never destroyed — surviving multiple ghetto fires, pogroms, and World War II — and retains its original Early Gothic interior: ribbed vaults, a wrought-iron Gothic grille around the bimah, and antique bronze chandeliers. Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel — the legendary creator of the Golem — served here in the 16th century, and his seat beside the Torah ark has been left empty since his death in 1609 as a mark of respect.