Our Bohemian adventure : Prague : Part 2 - The Jewish Quarter

Continuing our exploration of Prague. We went on a guided walking tour which took us to the Jewish Quarter

The Jewish Quarter, known as Josefov, is located between Old Town Square and the Vltava River. Its torrid history dates from the 13th century, when Jewish people were ordered to vacate their disparate homes and settle in this one area

Over the centuries, with Jews banned from living anywhere else in Prague, and with new arrivals expelled from Moravia, Germany, Austria and Spain joining them, more and more people were crowded in

To add to this, inhabitants of the Jewish Quarter, or the Prague Jewish Ghetto as it also became known, were forced to endure structural changes. The latest took place between 1893-1913, when most houses were flattened and the layout of many of the streets remodelled

Fortunately, most of the significant historical buildings were saved from destruction, and today they remain a testimony to the history of the Jews in Prague

The Franz Kafka Monument is in the area where the Dušní Street and the Vězeňská Street connect, between the Spanish Synagogue and the church of St. Spirit. It is a symbolic place because the Kafka family lived at Dušní Street No. 27. The statue is within the spiritual zone of three Churches – Jewish, Catholic and Protestant. Franz Kafka practically lived his entire short life in this part of the old Prague. 

The monument was inspired by an important short story written by Kafka called "Popis Jednoho Zápasu" (Description of a Match). The "split" design of the statue refers back to the spiritual split of the writer mentioned in the novel. The novel describes a situation in which a character defeats his opponent who is supposedly dominant

Built in 1586, the town hall is no longer in use and is closed to the public, and its architecture is quaint and well-preserved. But its clocks are by far its most striking characteristic. It has a traditional clock tower, with ordinary clocks on four sides, each bearing Roman numerals. On one side of the roof, however, there's a clock with Hebrew letters, and the clock's hands move counterclockwise because Hebrew is written from right to left