Old Jewish Cemetery, Prague, Czech Republic
Tombstones in the Old Jewish Cemetery, dating from 1439 to 1787, in the Josefov or Jewish Quarter of Prague, Czech Republic. The original cemetery was called The Jewish Garden and was excavated under the Vladislavova street, New Town. Because Jewish graves cannot be moved, when the cemetery became full, more earth was put on top and the tombstones shuffled up, until there were 12 layers of tombs and approximately 12, 000 tombstones presently visible, although there may be as many as 100, 000 burials in all. Those buried here include Yehuda ben Bezalel or the Maharal Rabbi Low (d. 1609), Mordechai Maisel (d. 1601), David Gans (d. 1613) and David Oppenheim (d. 1736). The historic centre of Prague was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1992. Picture by Manuel Cohen
