The massed headstones
Twelve thousand leaning, crowded markers on a small plot — a sight unlike any other cemetery in the world.
Photo: Andreas Praefcke — CC BY 3.0 · Bradley Weber — CC BY 2.0 · Edelmauswaldgeist — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Edelmauswaldgeist — CC BY-SA 4.0
Because Jews were barred for centuries from extending the cemetery beyond the quarter, and Jewish law forbids moving the dead. New layers of earth were added over the old and burials made in them, repeating up to twelve layers in places, with older stones raised to stand alongside the new.
Stay on the marked path, keep silent, and cover your head if you are a man. Do not touch or sit on the stones. This is a real burial ground, not an exhibit.
An old Jewish custom: a visitor leaves a small stone rather than flowers, marking that memory endures as stone endures and does not wilt. The folded notes on Rabbi Loew's tomb are a more recent habit tied to his spiritual standing.
Half an hour for the path itself, but make it part of a half day in Josefov with the adjoining Pinkas Synagogue and the Spanish Synagogue.
Sign in to write your review of this place.
No reviews yet — be the first.
The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague is among the strangest and most affecting places you will ever see: some twelve thousand stone markers, layered, leaning and pressed together on a small plot of a few thousand square metres, under old trees and filtered light. The reason for the crowding is practical and painful: for centuries Jews were forbidden to extend their burial ground beyond the quarter's limits, and because Jewish law forbids moving the dead, the only option was to add new layers of earth over the old and bury in those. This repeated until in places there are twelve layers stacked, with the older stones raised to stand alongside the newer — which is why they appear massed together like a crowd in stone. The cemetery was in use from the early 15th century until 1787, and among those buried here is Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, of the Golem legend; his tomb is where visitors linger longest, leaving small pebbles and folded notes in the customary way. The visit is covered by the Jewish Museum ticket, and the route is a single defined path you do not leave.
Twelve thousand leaning, crowded markers on a small plot — a sight unlike any other cemetery in the world.
The rabbi of the Golem legend; visitors leave small pebbles and folded notes on it in the Jewish custom.
Blessing hands for priestly families, a jug for Levites, animals standing for family names — the stones are read, not just looked at.
A small building at the entrance on Jewish burial customs and life — it explains what you then see in the cemetery.
Široká 3, Josefov, Prague 1