Old Jewish Cemetery

Behind this wall lies one of the most striking places in Europe. For more than three and a half centuries, Prague's Jewish community buried its dead here without being able to enlarge the ground: the ghetto was hemmed in and there was no more space.

1A city of gravestones

The oldest gravestone belongs to the poet and scholar Avigdor Kara, who died on 25 April 1439. The last burial took place on 17 May 1787, when Joseph II banned cemeteries inside the city. Since there was nowhere else to dig, earth was added on top and burials continued; some researchers believe certain areas hold up to ten layers. The old headstones were raised to each new surface, which is why they now lean and crowd against one another. The Jewish Museum estimates that around twelve thousand survive.

2The rabbi of the Golem

Here rests Judah Loew ben Bezalel, the Maharal, a great rabbi, philosopher and teacher who died in 1609. His Renaissance tomb is the most visited. Visitors leave small pebbles, a Jewish custom of remembrance, and many tuck notes with wishes into the cracks.

The Maharal was real and his writings survive; the Golem attributed to him belongs to tradition.

The stories that make him the creator of a clay giant only appear in writing centuries after his death, in the 19th century. Other notable neighbours lie nearby: the patron Mordecai Maisel, who died in 1601, and the astronomer David Gans, who worked with Tycho Brahe.

3What to look for

• The stacked headstones visible above the wall, tilting in every direction.
• The carved symbols: blessing hands for descendants of priests, jugs for the Levites.
• The Pinkas Synagogue, the entrance, whose walls bear the names of the Czech victims of the Shoah.