The Jewish Town Hall ( cs, Židovská radnice) in
Josefov
Josefov (also Jewish Quarter; german: Josefstadt) is a town quarter and the smallest cadastral area of Prague, Czech Republic, formerly the Jewish ghetto of the town. It is surrounded by the Old Town. The quarter is often represented by the flag ...
,
Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
, was constructed adjacent to the
Old New Synagogue
The Old New Synagogue ( cs, Staronová synagoga; german: link=no, Altneu-Synagoge), also called the Altneuschul, situated in Josefov, Prague, is Europe's oldest active synagogue. It is also the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin-nave d ...
on the corner of Maiselova and Červená Ulice in 1586 in
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...
style under the sponsorship of Mayor
Mordechai Maisel Mordecai Marcus Meisel ( cs, Miška Marek Majzel; 1528, Prague – 13 March 1601, Prague) was a philanthropist and communal leader in Prague.
Biography
Born to the Meisel family. In 1542 and 1561 his family, with the other Jewish inhabitants, w ...
. It acquired its
Rococo
Rococo (, also ), less commonly Roccoco or Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and theatrical style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpted moulding, ...
facade in the 18th century.
The building was the main meeting house of the local
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
community but is currently closed to the public. It is perhaps best known for its two clocks, one on a tower with
Roman numeral
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...
markings, the other, lower, has
Hebrew numerals, which are the same as letters in the
Hebrew alphabet
The Hebrew alphabet ( he, אָלֶף־בֵּית עִבְרִי, ), known variously by scholars as the Ktav Ashuri, Jewish script, square script and block script, is an abjad script used in the writing of the Hebrew language and other Jewi ...
. The Hebrew numerals begin with aleph and continue counterclockwise around the clock dial.
See also
*
Prague Orloj
Buildings and structures in Prague
Clock towers in the Czech Republic
Jews and Judaism in Prague
Tourist attractions in Prague
{{CzechRepublic-struct-stub