The Maisel Synagogue
View of the top of
the Maisel Synagogue
The Maisel Synagogue is located south
of the Old-New Synagogue and the Old Town Hall at number 10 Maiselova
Street, which is the main drag in Josefov, the old Jewish quarter
of Prague. Like almost everything else in Josefov, this synagogue
was founded by Mordechai Maisel, the wealthy mayor of the Jewish
Town and the leader of the Prague Jewish Community, who funded
extensive reconstruction of the ghetto in the 16th century. The
Maisel Synagogue was built by Josef Wahl and Juda Goldsmied de
Herz in 1590 - 1592.
The original building was damaged by
the great fire in 1689 when French troops set fire to Old Town
Prague; afterwards it was renovated in the Baroque style. The
building underwent further remodeling between 1893 and 1905 when
all the buildings in the ghetto except for six synagogues, the
Ceremonial Hall and the Old Town Hall were demolished and the
ghetto was destroyed. This last reconstruction was done in the
neo-Gothic style by Professor A. Grotte. The building is set
back a few feet from the street with a tiny courtyard in the
front.
Doorway into the Maisel
Synagogue
In its day, the Maisel Synagogue was
very ornate, but now the inside is filled with museum displays
and hardly looks like a synagogue at all. This was the first
stop on my tour of Josefov; it was here that I purchased my ticket
to The Jewish Museum and spent the most time, looking at the
extensive exhibits which depict Jewish history.
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