DK Travel : Prague : History & Culture

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Old Jewish Cemetery

The sight of hundreds of graves, their leaning headstones crumbling on top of each other, is a moving and unforgettable experience – a testament to the treatment of the Jews in Prague, confined to their own ghetto even in death. Although there is no definite record of the number of burial sites here, to appreciate the depth of the graveyard, compare the gravestones’ height with that of the street level on U Starého hřbitova.
Old Town Square

Over the centuries, this now placid square at the heart of the city has witnessed hundreds of executions, political capitulations and, more recently of course, riotous ice hockey celebrations, a sport about which Czechs are fanatical. Today, the action is more likely to come from the crowds of tourists and Praguers, enjoying a coffee or a beer at one of the numerous pavement cafés. Dominated by the splendid Church of Our Lady before Týn, the square is always buzzing; in winter and summer, it’s a wonderful place to watch the world go by.
Old-New Synagogue

Attached to the Old Jewish Cemetery, Europe’s oldest surviving synagogue has witnessed a turbulent history, including pogroms and fire, and has often been a place of refuge for the city’s beleaguered Jewish community. Its name derives from the fact that another synagogue was built after this one, taking the title “new”, but this was later destroyed. It is still the religious centre for Prague’s small, present-day Jewish community (see Features in the Old-New Synagogue).
Palác Akropolis

Žižkov’s artsy appeal owes much to the Akropolis. International rock, jazz and world beat acts regularly appear on Akropolis’s larger stages, while local bands crowd their guitars, trombones and violins on the smaller one.
Palackého náměstí

The riverside square is named for the 19th-century historian František Palacký, whose work was integral to the National Revival. Stanislav Sucharda’s sweeping monument to him stands at the plaza’s northern end, while the modern steeples of the Emaus Monastery rise from the eastern edge. The church grounds are also known as the Slavonic Monastery, named after the liturgy the resident Balkan Benedictines used (see Emaus Devil). Sadly, American bombs demolished the monastery’s original Baroque steeples on St Valentine’s Day 1945, as part of the Allies’ World War II military campaign.
Petr Zelenka

This young turk focuses on oddballs in films such as Loners (2000).
Petřín Hill

A more than welcome respite from the tiny, generally crowded streets in the city below is Prague’s sprawling park, looking down over spires and rooftops. Enjoy the views all the way up the hill by taking the funicular train.
Pinkas Synagogue

After World War II, this 15th-century building became a monument to the estimated 80,000 Czech and Moravian victims of the Holocaust – the names and dates of all those known to have perished either in the Terezín concentration camp or other extermination camps across Eastern Europe are written on the wall as a moving memorial. Equally moving is the exhibition of writings and paintings done by the children confined in Terezín. The Communists shut it down for “restoration” following the Six Day War in Israel in 1967. It was finally reopened in 1991.
Plunkett and Macleane

Jonny Lee Miller and Robert Carlyle blunderbuss their way up and down Thunovská. Locals were used as 18th-century extras for the 1999 production.
Ponec

Prague’s new dance theatre has all aspects covered, from top international dance acts to workshops for young talent.