Although only about 1,200 Jews currently live in Prague, at the beginning of the 18^th century it was the largest Jewish settlement in Christendom, with more than ten times that number. Before World War II there was a vibrant community of over 32,000. The old Jewish Quarter of Prague is still called the Josefov, in recognition of the ruler who issued the Toleranzpatent of 1782, abolishing many of the laws discriminating against Jews and Protestants. Full emancipation of those minorities followed in 1848. Prague avoided bombing and destruction in World War II leaving intact its magnificent architectural and artistic legacy.

There are seven major Jewish synagogues remaining in Prague’s old-town, the former Jewish ghetto: Stare-Nova Synagogue: built about 1280, Gothic (oldest functioning Jewish synagogue in Europe ); Vyoska Synagogue: built 1568, mixture of late Gothic and Renaissance styles;  Maisel Synagogue: built 1591-92, rebuilt 1689, 1754 and 1905, neo-Gothic style;  Klausen Synagogue: built 1694, Renaissance style;  Pinkas Synagogue: built 1535, rebuilt 1607-25, late Renaissance style;  Spanish Synagogue: built 1868, Moorish style;  Jubilee Synagogue: built 1905-06, Moorish – Art Nouveau styles

The Spanish Synagogue was built in 1868 on the site of Prague ’s oldest Jewish house of prayer, “The Old Shul,” which served the Byzantine community of Jews in the 12^th and 13^th centuries. The Spanish Synagogue has a square floor-plan and a magnificent dome all decorated in stylized Arabesque and Islamic motifs. A product of the burgeoning industrial revolution, the Synagogue’s structural frame is cast iron. Highly decorated cast iron columns support the women’s gallery. The stained glass windows were completed in 1893. Frantisek Skroup, composer of the Czech national anthem, served as the organist from 1836-45.