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Old New Synagogue

Old New Synagogue

Photo: Øyvind Holmstad · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Location
Prague, Czech Republic
Client / Owner
—
Year
Completed 1270
Typology
Spiritual
Style
Gothic

The article says the synagogue was completed in 1270 and calls it one of the earliest Gothic structures in Prague. It names no builders, saying the double-nave plan was likely adapted from monastery and chapel plans by the synagogue's Christian architects. It calls it the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin-nave design.

The hall has six vaulted bays on two large central pillars, with five ribs instead of the usual four or six. Scholars dispute the reason offered, which is avoiding Christian cross associations. Twelve narrow Gothic windows, two per bay, are said to represent the twelve tribes. The bimah stands between the pillars, and women sit in an outer room with small windows into the sanctuary.

A legend says Rabbi Judah Loew's Golem lies in the attic, but a renovation in 1883 and an exploration in August 2014 found no trace of it. The attic is closed to the public. The article gives no dimensions.

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