— EXPLORING PRAGUE —
( Previous Installment )

June 18, 2007 — If you ever have a chance to visit Prague, jump on it. You won't be disappointed. It's a fairy-tale city populated by friendly, lively — and exceptionally considerate — people. When I lost my lens hood, a young man chased after me through a crowd to return it. I hadn't even noticed it was missing. As tourists, we felt secure and very welcome.

Walking around Prague is great fun, but it's a big city and we couldn't cover it all by foot. The buses, cable cars and subway were plentiful, inexpensive and incredibly simple to use. While riding public transport I witnessed countless gestures of goodwill. People routinely stood up to offer their seats to elderly passengers or women with young children. There was a pervasive sense of "goodwill to all" throughout the city.

Old Town
Across the river from the Castle lies the heart of Prague, affectionately known as "Old Town." References to this historic area go back as far as 1091, when a market stood at the site of the current Old Town Square. Here are some photos from Old Town:

Jewish Quarter
The Jewish Quarter lies just north of Old Town. The first Jews settled in Prague over 1000 years ago. They did not have an easy time of it. Many were murdered during the first Crusade (beginning in 1096) as part of Europe's first mass pogrom. Those who survived, along with their descendents, were treated badly. During the 13th century the Pope declared that Jews should live separate from Christians. They were forced to give up their homes and relocate to the "new" Jewish Quarter. A wall was erected around the area, creating a ghetto that became increasingly crowded and squalid until the late 1800's, when Emperor Josef II emancipated the Jews and eliminated the slum. Most of the buildings were razed to make way for redevelopment, but important religious and historical buildings were preserved.

The Jewish Cemetery
The Jewish Cemetery, as seen above, was established 1478. It is Europe's oldest surviving Jewish Cemetery. During the ghetto period (nearly 500 years) Prague's Jews were not permitted to bury their dead outside the ghetto. Over the centuries, out of sheer necessity, they buried their dead one on top of the other in that small urban cemetery. It's said to contain more than 100,000 bodies in 12 layers of graves — and just 12,000 plots! The last burial was in 1787. Walking through that cemetery was quite an experience.

The emancipation of Prague's Jews did not end their suffering. Hitler saw to that. Between 1939 and 1945 more than 70,000 Czech Jews were killed by the Nazis. Hitler decreed that the Jewish Cemetery in Prague, however, was to be preserved for his planned Central Jewish Museum, aka "Museum of the Extinct Jewish Race." (Click here to learn more about the history of Jewish life in Prague. It's an interesting read.) Prague's famed Jewish Museum, of which the Cemetery is part, consists of a complex of buildings within the old Jewish Quarter. It houses one of the richest collections of Jewish art, textiles and silver in the world.

Winding Things Up
Let's finish our tour of Prague with more photos taken around the city: