SPANISH SYNAGOGUE (ŠPANĚLSKÁ SYNAGOGA)
It is the most "spectacular" and the most recent synagogue in the neighborhood, quite far from the previous ones. In the past centuries, the neighborhood had two parts separated by a Catholic church. One was inhabited by Jews of the Western Rite who gathered around the Vieille-Nouvelle synagogue. The Jews of the Eastern Rite lived around the Spanish Synagogue. However, it was the Jews who fled the Spanish Inquisition and settled in Prague who gave the synagogue its name in the early 16th century. There was already a synagogue on this site in the 12th century, called Stará Škola (Old School). It was damaged and burned down several times, but in 1836 it was rebuilt and an organ was installed. The first person to play this instrument was Vladimír Škroup, composer of the song Kde Domov Můj, the anthem of the Czech Republic. Today, after more than twenty years of restoration, it is a majestic building in neo-Moorish style, whose interior is decorated with golden oriental stucco, the imitation of the Spanish interiors of the Alhambra in Granada. The synagogue also houses the fascinating exhibition dedicated to the history of Bohemian Jews, which has benefited from the renovation work to become even more interactive. It traces the life of the Jewish community from the creation of the district by Joseph II until after the Second World War. Exciting and terrible pages of history!
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