Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
port a huge building project,
the neighborhood survived.
Today, it's protected by the
government as the largest
preserved Jewish quarter in
Europe.
Coming here, you
enter a place where time
has stopped: he houses are
essentially as the Jews left
them more than 60 years ago. Many of the houses were resettled
by Roma (see sidebar, page 190), who have done little to change
the look and feel of the place. In Třebíč today, only one woman
has a Jewish father. (Because you must have a Jewish mother to be
legally Jewish, the Jewish population is officially zero.) The govern-
ment wants the ghetto to be a living neighborhood, not a museum.
Lines of drying clothes and kids kicking around a soccer ball on
the cobblestones make today's ghetto come alive. After dark, it's
the
place for edgy nightlife.
he
Rear Synagogue
(Zadní Synagoga) is the visitors center,
with a branch of the TI, plus displays of artifacts and a model of
the once-thriving local Jewish community (40 Kč, daily 10:00-
12:00 & 13:00-17:00). At the TI, confirm the hours of the nearby
cemetery (listed below).
he
Front Synagogue
(Přední Synagoga) has functioned since
1954 as a Hussite Christian church. While generally locked, you
can peek through its gate to see how the synagogue was retooled
for the plain Hus-style worship.
Jewish Cemetery
—A 20-minute walk above the ghetto, this
evocative memorial park is covered with spreading ivy, bushes of
wild strawberries, and a commotion of 9,000 gravestones (the old-
est dating to 1631). Notice how the tombstones follow the assimi-
lation of the Jews, from simple markers to fancy 19th-century
headstones that look exactly like those of the rich burghers in
Christian cemeteries (daily May-Sept 8:00-20:00, March-April
and Oct 8:00-18:00, Nov-Feb 9:00-16:00, confirm hours at the
Rear Synagogue TI before ascending the hill).
St. Procopius Basilica
—This enormous church looms over
the town on a hill a five-minute walk above the main square and
the ghetto. In a region of Baroque churches, this rich fusion of
late Romanesque and early Gothic styles is a striking contrast.
Unfortunately, it's viewable only with a tour (40 Kč, 45-min tours
start every 30 min, May-Sept Tue-Fri 9:00-12:00 & 13:00-17:00,
Sat-Mon 13:00-17:00, shorter hours and less-frequent tours Oct-
April, tel. 568-610-022).
