The Andalusian ornament
Walls and ceilings entirely covered in gilded geometric decoration inspired by the Alhambra — familiar to an Arab eye, and startling in central Europe.
Diego Delso — CC BY-SA 4.0 · Renardo la vulpo — CC BY-SA 4.0 · JERRYE & ROY KLOTZ MD — CC BY-SA 3.0 · Øyvind Holmstad — CC BY-SA 3.0
Because of its architecture, modelled on Andalusian building and the Alhambra, not because of any link to Spanish Jewry. The name comes from how it was built in 1868, when Moorish Revival was the European fashion for synagogues.
Yes if you will see three sites or more — it covers the Spanish Synagogue, the old cemetery, the Pinkas memorial synagogue and others, all adjacent in Josefov. Half a day on foot covers the lot.
Policy differs between the Jewish Museum sites and can change: some allow it without flash, some ban it entirely (particularly the Pinkas memorial synagogue). Ask at the ticket desk.
Start with the Spanish Synagogue, the most beautiful, then the Maisel Synagogue, the Old Jewish Cemetery, the Pinkas memorial and finish at the Old-New Synagogue. Everything lies within a ten-minute walk.
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The Spanish Synagogue is the most beautiful building in Prague's Jewish quarter, and has nothing to do with Spain in fact: the name comes from its architecture, inspired by the Alhambra in Granada and Andalusian art. It was built in 1868 on the site of the quarter's oldest synagogue, in the Moorish Revival style then fashionable across Europe. What the interior does to a visitor is hard to convey: every centimetre of wall, column and ceiling is covered in coloured and gilded geometric and plant ornament, repeated with mathematical precision in the Andalusian manner, with stained glass and a gallery running around the hall above. The effect is closer to stepping into a jewellery box than into a building. Today it forms part of the Jewish Museum in Prague and presents the history of the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia from the late 18th century to the present, and it hosts evening concerts. Outside the entrance stands a modern statue of Franz Kafka riding on the shoulders of a headless man. Entry is normally on the Jewish Museum combined ticket, which also covers the old cemetery and several synagogues.
Walls and ceilings entirely covered in gilded geometric decoration inspired by the Alhambra — familiar to an Arab eye, and startling in central Europe.
Go up to the gallery running around the hall to see the ornament at ceiling level — the angle most visitors miss.
A strange bronze of Kafka riding on the shoulders of a headless man, taken from one of his short stories.
Classical and traditional Jewish music under the gilded ceiling — one of Prague's loveliest small concert venues.
Vězeňská 1, Josefov, Prague 1