Cycle Tour Prag - Brno - Krakau (EV4)

Old Town and Josefov

The right bank section of District Prague 1, the oldest settled area, consists of the Old Town of Prague (Czech: Staré město) and the Jewish Town (Czech: Josefov).

Understand

The Jewish Quarter lends itself to exploration, contemplation and a deeper understanding of what Prague's Jews have endured throughout the centuries. Paradoxically, Adolf Hitler is to thank for the Quarter's continued existence - he intended to create an "Exotic Museum of an Extinct Race" here after the end of the war.

See

• ⊙ Old Town Square (Staroměstské náměstí) is the center of eventful history of Prague. The Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque buildings were preserved here. The Historical Centre, including most of the city’s major sites, became a UNESCO-listed site in 1992. 
• ⊙ Jan Hus monument (Pomník mistra Jana Husa). That striking man standing atop a patina-green metal mountain in the center of Old Town Square is not Jesus, though he resembles him. It's Jan Hus, the great Czech religious reformer whose Hussite movement caused as much, if not more, friction within the Christian community as Martin Luther.
• ⊙ Astronomical Clock (Pražský orloj). The Astronomical Clock located on a side tower of the Old Town Hall (reasonably enough, on Old Town Square) is easy to find - just wait until a few minutes before the hour and look for a large group of tourists standing around waiting for something to happen! It also one of the most popular gathering places in Prague.
  Built in 1410 and thought of as an example of 15th century hi-tech device, projected with participation of math and astronomy professor at Prague University. The mail dial is in principle mechanical astrolabe, showing not only the current time, but also the placement of Sun and Moon in Zodiac, phase of the moon, time of sunrise and sunset, length of astronomical night, time in old Bohemian hours, in unequal hours and other data. From gathering crowds, hardly anybody understands all data astronomical dial displays.
  Then there is a slow-moving 12-month calendar with incredibly delicate, small figure paintings by 19th century Czech painter Josef Manes. Every day on the hour, the upper, glockenspiel-style section of the clock performs the same scene: Death waves an hourglass, the 12 apostles shuffle past small windows, and a rooster crows. After the hour strikes, a Turk wags his head.
• ⊙ Municipal Hall (Obecní dům), ☎ +420 222 002 101. Nám. Republiky 5. The Obecní dům was built near the Powder Tower (a storage place for gunpowder and a major trade route entry into the city) on a site called King's Court where once a royal residence stood. In 1901, the Prague Civic Society made a proposal to city authorities to build a center for official and social Czech events. 
• ⊙ Convent of St Agnes, U Milosrdných 17. The Anezsky klaster is the first Early Gothic building in Prague (founded 1234) - something notable in a city filled with amazingly well-preserved examples of Gothic architecture such as St Vitus, the Charles Bridge and the Powder Tower. Over the years the complex's convent, chapels and several churches deteriorated and in some cases, were completely destroyed. After Habsburg emperor Josef II's religious reforms, the convent was shut down in 1782 and converted into lodgings for the poor. Today, the convent is used to house part of the Czech National Gallery's collection. Admission: Full: 100 Kč, Reduced: 50 Kč, Family: 150 Kč. 
• ⊙ Museum of Communism, Na Příkope 10, ☎ +420 224 212 966. Hours: Daily 9AM-9PM excluding December 24. An interesting museum that follows the history of communism in Czech Republic until its fall with the Velvet Revolution. The museum has several interesting communist propaganda artifacts, which are worth a look. Interesting exhibits on how communism changed Czechoslovakia, but skewed toward a particular view of history. Admission: Adults: 180 Kč, Students with ID: 140Kč, Children (under 10 with paying adult): Free. 
• ⊙ Mucha Museum, Kaunický palác, Panská 7, ☎ +420 224 216 415. Hours: 10AM-6PM. This museum is dedicated to the life and works of Alphonse Mucha, a leading artist in the Art Nouveau movement. 
• ⊙ Museum of Czech Cubism, Ovocný trh 19, ☎ +420 224 211 746. Hours: 10AM-6PM. Closed M. The Museum of Czech Cubism is in the recently renovated House of the Black Madonna. This unique Cubist building, designed by Josef Gočár, was built in 1911–1912. Adult: 100 Kč. Discounts: 50 Kč. 
• ⊙ Czech Museum of Fine Arts, Husova 19-21, Praha 1. 20th century Czech art and changing exhibitions. 
• ⊙ Museum of Decorative Arts, 17 listopadu 2, Praha 1. This 17th century palazzo-style building houses examples of historical and contemporary crafts, as well as applied arts and design. 
• ⊙ Jewish Museum, U Staré školy 1, ☎ +420 222 749 211. This is not a single site but consists of four synagogues, the Old Jewish Cemetery and the Memorial Hall - entrance to all being covered by a single ticket. A combined ticket that includes the Old-New Synagogue can be obtained at a considerable extra cost but the interest of the building justifies it. 
  • Maisel Synagogue.  
  • Spanish Synagogue, Vězeňská 1. The Spanish Synagogue, so-called because Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain at the end of the 15th century built a previous synagogue on this site, is a wild combination of neo-Renaissance and Moorish-Spain style. Think the Alhambra crossed with a Victorian wallpaper store, with some Islamic geometric and floral flourishes thrown in for good measure. The predominant color is red, which lends a regal aura to the interior, but there are also multiple shades of green and blue. The background behind the altar is blue covered with gold stars, visually implying the intercession of the deity in the holy space of the building, drawing one's eyes upward to the vast ceiling. 
  • Pinkas Synagogue, Siroká ulice 3, ☎ +420 222 326 660. Hours: November - March: 9 - 16:30. April - October: 9 - 18:00. Closed Saturday (Jewish Sabbath) and Jewish holidays. Inside the front door of the Pinkas Synagogue, inscribed in tiny red and black letters on almost every square inch of wallspace are the names of 77,297 Jews who were killed in the war. This visual representation humanizes such a number, attaching names to the statistics.
  • Old Jewish Cemetery (Starý Židovský Hřbitov), Siroká ulice. On the left wall before the entrance is a plaque detailing conservation efforts (which cost 1 million crowns per year). Over 20,000 people are buried in about twelve layers of graves, stacked to save space. Avigdor Kara is the earliest known person buried here - he was a poet who lived to tell about the 1389 pogrom. The reddish, grey and black tombstones are tilted at crazy angles, some covered with moss, some newly cleaned. Walking along the path that winds around the perimeter, Rabbi Loew's tombstone is about halfway through. It has a lion on it and a plaque on the wall across from it. Loew is known as the father of the Golem legend in Prague. 
  • Klausen Synagogue.  
  • Ceremonial Hall.  
• ⊙ Old-New Synagogue (Staronová synagóga), Maiselova 18. The name sounds strange for a building from the 13th century but it was called 'New' to distinguish it from an even older synagogue. This was replaced by the Spanish Synagogue in the 17th century, when the Old-New Synagogue acquired its current name. 
• ⊙ Church of the Holy Ghost. Baroque church 
• Pariska Street (Pařížská). Tree lined street with number of historic buildings, exclusive shopping and upmarket restaurants and hotels. 
• ⊙ Jewish Town Hall (Židovská radnice), Maiselova 250/18. Renaissance style building 
• ⊙ Rudolfinum, Alšovo nábřeží 12, ☎ +420 227 059 352. Neo-Renaissance style auditorium, home of the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra. 
• ⊙ Jaroslav Fragner Gallery. Contemporary architecture. You can find here profiles of influential people and groups, retrospective exhibitions, thematic exhibitions, recent movement in architecture. Gallery provides lectures, seminars and publishing, regarding central Prague. The JFG is a centre for architects, professional and general public, students of architecture and construction companies. 
• ⊙ Postal museum (Poštovní muzeum), Nové mlýny 1239/2, ☎ +420 222 312 006.