The creator of the legendary Golem lies here – eXtra.cz
This cemetery cannot be missed in the eXtra.cz editorial cycle about mysterious places in Prague. It’s quite different from the ones we mapped last time. You won’t find crosses here, a head covering is mandatory for men here, and in order to do that, you have to pay a considerable entrance fee. But the old Jewish cemetery in Josefov, Prague, is definitely worth it.
The Jewish city of Prague is frequently visited by tourists both from home and abroad. No wonder the local synagogues and landmarks seem to draw you back in time. The local Jewish burial ground is only one of the oldest in the world and welcomed its first eternal tenants as early as the 15th century. Since then, twelve thousand tombstones described in Hebrew have accumulated there, and world-famous personalities also lie there.
The dead in the Jewish cemetery lie in layers
Because the cemetery eventually found itself literally in the center of the emerging city, it was expanded several times, but the interest in burial did not suit him just as well. The dead thus began to be gradually placed in the strata to which they are according to date information About ten Jewish Museums in Prague. Quite morbid ideas with a purely practical solution.
Tomb of the Golem creator
The oldest tombstone dates from 1439, burial in this place definitively ceased in 1787. Everyone recalls the well-known legend of the Golem, a clay servant who, at the end of the sixteenth century, discovered the qualities resurrected and humanly imprinted by Rabbi Löw. His grave can also be found here, although he died in 1609. The oldest tombstones have not been preserved, but their reconstructed fragments can still be found walled up in the cemetery wall.
If you want to visit the mysterious cemetery, we recommend combining it with a tour of other parts of Prague’s old Jewish quarter. Many other Jewish monuments are part of the ticket, which can be purchased from 350 crowns. You can find more information about the opening hours and operation of individual synagogues and other sights HERE.