place · L0270

Prague פראג

Bohemian capital and one of Ashkenaz's oldest communities: home of the Altneuschul (Europe's oldest active synagogue), of the Maharal's rabbinate and legend, and of centuries of printing and scholarship between the Rhineland and Poland.

The Altneuschul (Old-New Synagogue) in Prague's Josefov quarter — the 13th-century Gothic hall with its steep saddle roof and late-Gothic brick gables, Europe's oldest active synagogue, with the clock tower of the Jewish Town Hall behind. — Photo: Jerzy Strzelecki, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

I. Who

Hebrew: פראג
Also known as: Prag

III. Where

Modern location: Prague, Czech Republic

V. How do we know

Claim	Evidence	Confidence	Sources
The Maharal (Yehudah Loew ben Betzalel) served as rabbi of Prague, where his grave in the Old Jewish Cemetery remains a landmark; the Golem legend attached to him and the Altneuschul.	tradition external	★★★★☆	Judah Loew ben Bezalel
Prague's Altneuschul, completed in the thirteenth century, is the oldest active synagogue in Europe — standing architecture of the medieval Ashkenazi community.	external archaeology	★★★★★	Old New Synagogue

Referenced by: The Maharal