Old Jewish Town Hall

On the right is the pink town hall, on the left is the Old-New Synagogue

The Old Town Hall is a beautiful pink building on Maiselova street in the old Jewish quarter of Prague, now called Josefov. A very narrow alley separates the Old Town Hall from the Old-New Synagogue, just north of it. The Old-New Synagogue is shown on the left in the photograph above.

The funds to build the town hall were provided by Mordechai Maisel, after whom the main street in the old Jewish quarter is named. Maisel was a Jewish leader whose wealth was comparable to that of the Rothchild family of bankers. The Old Town Hall was built in 1586 but remodeled with a pink Baroque facade in the 18th century. The famous Hebrew Clock which runs backwards is on the north side of the Old Town Hall facing the alley that runs between it and the Old-New Synagogue; the clock is shown in the photograph below.

The famous Hebrew Clock is on the north side of the Old Town Hall

To the left in the photograph above is the High Synagogue, and at the bottom is the Old-New Synagogue. Both of these Synagogues are still in use today. Notice the windows on the red roof of the High Synagogue; they are called eyelid windows.

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