Spanish synagogue

INFORMATION & DETAILS

The synagogue stands on the place of the so-called Old School, a Jewish temple from the 12th century. Around the temple the second of the Prague Jewish ghettos was situated, it was the centre of the Jews who were driven from Spain, and therefore was segregated from the other community, which was summoned around the Old-New Synagogue. However, both of the communities later united to support each other in the struggle for Jewish emancipation. In 1867, the old temple was finally demolished and in 1868 the new Spanish Synagogue was built according to the plans of the architects Uhlman and Niklas. In fact, the synagogue was the first building in Prague that was build by a specialized building company, as we know them today and not by the architect’s workshop. The synagogue is built in the Moorish style; it resembles the Spanish Alhambra, to commemorate the home of the group of Jews who arrived here in the 12th century. The interiors are richly decorated as the synagogue used to belong to the Sephardim group of the Jews. Inside there is golden wallpaper and you can find there even an organ on which the best Czech composers were playing for the Jews. Nowadays, although it belongs to the Prague Jewish museum, the synagogue is still partly active, it is used by the liberal Jews, however, there is no torah in here; it is carried over each šabat. There is the exhibition of the History of The Jews from the Emancipation to Today. On the first floor there is also an exhibition of books by Czech Jewish writers.

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