Unknown landmarks: one of the oldest cemeteries in Europe

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Since ancient times, Jews have called the cemetery a garden. When you get to the Jewish cemetery in Prague, you understand why. Old trees, graves overgrown with grass, countless gravestones - a labyrinth of destinies from which only stones remain. The stones tilted from old age, the rain and wind erased the names, and with them the memories. But at the same time, the Prague Jewish cemetery is still one of the most popular tourist destinations today.

The Jewish cemetery in Prague, located in the Josefov quarter, is considered one of the oldest such memorials in Europe. Burials were carried out here already in the first half of the 15th century and up to 1786. Today this cemetery, which surrounds the old synagogue, is one of the most popular tourist destinations.

One of the earliest gravestones in the Jewish cemetery in Prague is the gravestone of Rabbi Avigdor Kara, which dates back to 1439. And the first written mention of the cemetery dates back to 1438. The last burial took place 348 years later.

About 100 thousand Jews are buried in the cemetery. Due to the lack of space, over the centuries, the graves had to be placed on top of each other. In some places, there are twelve such burial layers.

Today, about 12,000 tombstones have survived in the cemetery, many of which are decorated with animal and plant motifs. It was here that many writers who wrote about Jews drew inspiration.

In the Jewish faith, it is forbidden to depict dead people, therefore, instead of the images of the deceased usual for Christian cemeteries, tombstones characterize the dead by means of various symbols, emphasizing their way of life, character, name or profession. For example, the graves of musicians are decorated with violins, scissors indicate that a tailor is buried here, the symbol of the crown is found on the graves of the most educated people, and an animal figurine basically means the name of a deceased person.

Interestingly, during World War II, Hitler, despite all his hatred of Jews, ordered that the old cemetery be left untouched. It is believed that he allegedly wanted to make it a "museum of an extinct race". The "Museum" was supposed to officially open after all Jews in Europe would have been killed.

Many famous Jews were buried here: Rabbi Yehuda Liwa Ben Bezalel-Maharal, Rabbi and scholar Avigdor Kara, and Mordechai bin Samuel Meisel, an entrepreneur and former 16th Jewish mayor of the city, who built a private synagogue.

One of the most visited graves is the grave of Rabbi Yehuda Low, who lived in the 16th century and, according to legend, created an artificial clay creature called the Golem. According to legend, the Golem fought on the side of the Jews in difficult times, but later became uncontrollable and bloodthirsty, so it was destroyed.

Often, visitors enter the cemetery from the Pinkas Synagogue, which today is a memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. People leave prayers on the gravestones, written on small pieces of paper.

Another interesting fact is that in the far corner near the wall there is a small tombstone, which has settled under the ground and is overgrown with ivy. It is impossible to read the inscription on it, but old people claim that in the first words there was a mention of a dog. They say that once someone threw a dead dog over the fence of a cemetery, wanting to desecrate a sacred place. But the wise Rabbi Leo said that everything that ends up in the cemetery should remain there. And the dog was buried among the people.

It should be noted that not all cemeteries are as peaceful as the one in Prague. For example, catacombs of the Capuchins, where thousands of mummies are collected in one place, - the place is very frightening.