Vojtěch Ignác Ullmann and Josef Niklas designed the synagogue, with Niklas responsible for the interior decoration. It was completed in 1868 on the site of the Altschul, probably Prague's oldest synagogue in the Jewish Town, which was demolished in 1867.
The style is Moorish Revival. The plan is square with a central dome, two stories and three built-in balconies. A large round stained-glass window with a Star of David was installed in 1882 and 1883, above a monumental Torah ark styled after a mihrab. A gilded arabesque was executed from 1882 to 1893.
Karel Pecánek added a functionalist annex in 1935. The Jewish Museum in Prague has administered the building since 1955. The interior was restored in 1958 and 1959, and the synagogue was closed after 1982. It reopened in 1998, and its exhibition covers the modern history of Jews in the Czech Republic.
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