Great Synagogue

Prague’s Jewish quarter gets all the attention, but visitors to Czech looking for the real jewel in Czech Jewish history should head to the Great Synagogue instead, which is allegedly the third largest in the entire world. It looms majestically near Pilsen’s old town square. Though devoid of exhibitions, the interior impresses; the two-story tall cavernous central hall is striking, housing endless rows of pews. It is big enough to seat over a thousand worshippers that run down the length of the building. Marble columns and railings with the Star of David chiselled down their faces run around the perimeter of the second floor; chandeliers hang from the beautiful mosaic ceiling. The exterior is just as remarkable, with two Russian-style onion dome towers rising over the salmon-pink bricked building, the Star of David featured prominently on the front. History buffs will appreciate the poignant part the Great Synagogue plays in Jewish history.

In the mid-19th century, the Jewish community of Pilsen started expanding, fuelled by the return of Jews who were expelled from Pilsen back in the 1500s, necessitating the construction of a new synagogue. Completed in 1893, the building became the centre of the Jewish community. Tragically, in less than fifty years, the Synagogue was abandoned, as the entire Jewish population was deported to concentration camps during World War II. The Synagogue survived the war almost unscathed, but the Jewish community was devastated by the Holocaust; only 204 Pilsen Jews survived, the rest having perished in Auschwitz, and most of the survivors left for Israel and the United States. But fortunately the Synagogue reopened in 1998, and today, a small revived Jewish community runs the Synagogue―one of Pilsen’s must-visits.