Neighbourhoods at a Glance - Prague and Czech Republic - page 201

it because it pre-dates the raising of Staré Město's street level in medieval times to
guard against floods. Men must cover their heads (a hat or bandanna will do; paper
yarmulkes are handed out at the entrance). Note that entry is not included with a
Prague Jewish Museum ordinary ticket.
Around the central chamber are an entry hall, a winter prayer hall and the room
from which women watch the men-only services. The interior, with a pulpit surroun-
ded by a 15th-century wrought-iron grill, looks much as it would have 500 years ago.
The 17th-century scriptures on the walls were recovered from beneath a later 'restora-
tion'. On the eastern wall is the Holy Ark that holds the Torah scrolls. In a glass case
at the rear, little light bulbs beside the names of the prominent deceased are lit on their
death days.
With its steep roof and Gothic gables, this looks like a place with secrets, and at
least one version of the Golem legend ends here. Left alone on the Sabbath, the
creature runs amok; Rabbi Loew rushes out in the middle of a service, removes its
magic talisman and carries the lifeless body into the synagogue's attic, where some
insist it still lies.
Across the narrow street is the elegant 16th-century High Synagogue OFFLINE
MAP GOOGLE MAP (Vysoká synagóga; Červená 2), so-called because its prayer hall
(closed to the public) is upstairs. Around the corner is the Jewish Town Hall
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP (Židovská radnice; Maiselova 18; closed to the public;
Staroměstská) , built by Mordechai Maisel in 1586 and given its rococo facade in the
18th century. It has a clock tower with one Hebrew face where the hands, like the
Hebrew script, run 'backwards'.
Pinkas Synagogue
The handsome Pinkas Synagogue OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP (Pinkasova syn-
agóga; www.jewishmuseum.cz ; Široká 3; 9am-6pm Sun-Fri Apr-Oct, to 4.30pm Nov-
Mar; Staroměstská) was built in 1535 and used for worship until 1941. After WWII
it was converted into a memorial, with wall after wall inscribed with the names, birth
dates, and dates of disappearance of the 77,297 Czech victims of the Nazis. It also has
a collection of paintings and drawings by children held in the Terezín concentration
camp during WWII.
Old Jewish Cemetery
The Pinkas Synagogue contains the entrance to the Old Jewish Cemetery
OFFLINE MAP GOOGLE MAP (Starý židovský hřbitov; Pinkas Synagogue, Široká 3;