In days gone by the town square was obviously the centre of everything and as we stood in this one I tried to imagine what life would have been like in medieval times......I was helped by the smokey smell that was wafting around and turned to see a guy cooking huge hunks of pork on a rotisserie...
Central to this square is the old town clock that dates back to 1490.....we stood and watched as it chimed 3PM.....along with thousands of other people. There are just so many tourists here......it is overwhelming!
The square is also the place where many violent things took place.......in 1621 fourteen people were murdered for the crime of being Protestants! The date is now cemented in the pavement.
It was nice to see a bit of happiness around......Prague is a very popular place to come to be married, and in one day I think I saw 3 or 4 weddings, mostly in gorgeous horse drawn carriages.
After the old town square we moved into the Jewish quarter. This was in such a state of disrepair....it was a ghetto really with no sewerage and so forth....that much of it was rebuilt in the 20th century, so it has much wider streets than some of the other parts of the old town.
The Jews started coming to Prague in the 10th century, and of course the Jewish persecution started long before the Second World War. For example, only one son from each family was allowed to marry and have children - to keep the population down! This law was abolished in 1848.
The Jewish community grew and flourished - as we know, they are astute business people.
When World War Two arrived the Jews were isolated and their synagogues converted into warehouses. All their artefacts however, were kept as the Nazis planned to turn the area into a museum to an extinct race after the war! That has very clearly backfired as it is now the largest Jewish museum in the world.....with thousands of visitors each year. There are 5 different synagogues each with different displays, and they also still function as places of worship.
But more than that......they are a very moving place of remembrance of the thousands of Jews who were killed during the war.
In 1939 25,000 Jews from the Czech Republic emigrated to different parts of the world. Of those who stayed 80,000 were killed.
There is a very moving tribute you can see of these people.....every persons name, date of birth and death is recorded on the walls....like in a handwritten script. Photography is not allowed however. There are also original drawings from the children displayed......they break your heart.
It was a very sobering place to visit.....but I'm pleased I saw it and it will stay with me for a long long time. The photos are the outside of some of the synagogues.
Prague.....a fascinating place.....more to come!
Till next time........
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