Old Jewish Cemetery, Ptrague - What To See

The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague is one of the world’s oldest surviving Jewish burial grounds. As such, when you visit, it’s a lesson in history to see how things were done in previous centuries. The oldest grave here dates back to the 1400s, but it’s the sheer quantity of graves in a small space that make this place so fascinating. Although the cemetery was expanded several times, it was still not big enough to meet the needs of the Jewish Town in Prague. As space was at a premium, the decision was made to bury bodies on top of each other. In some places the graves are layered up to 10 people deep.

In total there are over 12,000 tombstones which were placed here during the cemetery’s 348 years of operation. It’s thought the number of bodies is much higher though as not grave would have been marked with a stone. Some estimates are as high as 100,000 bodies! There are a number of important figures who are buried here including the scholar and poet Avigdor Kara who died in 1439 and the Renaissance historian, mathematician and astronomer David Gans. As a result of the layers of bodies, the surface of the cemetery is much higher than the level of the surrounding streets.

The Old Jewish Cemetery is open from April through October from 9am to 6pm and from November to March from 9am to 4.30pm. Admission is not permitted on Saturdays and Jewish holidays. You enter the cemetery through the Pinkas Synagogue, which serves as a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. The admission fee is 300 CZK which includes the cemetery and four synagogues. There is a small extra fee to take photographs.