Spanish Synagogue Prague: A Visitor Guide

A Square Plan With a Dome

The synagogue was built in 1868 on the site of the Old Shul, a structure regarded as the presumed oldest synagogue in Prague, which had been demolished in 1867. The architects were Vojtěch Ignác Ullmann and Josef Niklas, with Jan Bělský overseeing the construction. The ground plan is square, with a large dome and galleries. The building has two storeys with three built-in balconies. A Functionalist winter prayer room was added in 1935, designed by Karel Pecánek.

The style is Moorish, inspired by the Alhambra in Granada.

The Moorish Interior

The Moorish decoration was finished in 1882-1883 by Antonín Baum and Bedřich Münzberger, and it is the reason people come. The interior combines ornamental stucco, gilding and stained glass. The most striking single element is a gilded multicoloured parquet arabesque by the same two decorators. The Torah ark is styled as a mihrab, the prayer niche of a mosque, which makes the Jewish and Islamic borrowings explicit in one glance.

The layout is Reform rather than medieval: the bimah stands at the east wall, not in the centre as in the older synagogues of the quarter. In the south gallery there is an organ, and the room is known for its acoustics. The museum lists the synagogue as a venue for chamber music concerts, so check the museum's own site for dates before you plan an evening around one.

The Exhibition Inside

Unlike the Maisel Synagogue, which covers the medieval and early modern centuries, the Spanish Synagogue carries the exhibition on Jews in the Bohemian Lands in the 19th and 20th centuries. It presents Franz Kafka, Sigmund Freud and Gustav Mahler among its figures. One highlight is a Hanukkah menorah of 1785 bearing a portrait of Emperor Joseph II.

The site has a ticket office, a museum shop and restrooms, so it works as a practical starting or ending point for a circuit of the quarter. The address is Vězeňská 1, on Dušní Street.

Outside the Door

Directly between the Spanish Synagogue and the Church of the Holy Spirit stands the Franz Kafka Monument by Jaroslav Róna, installed in 2003. It is bronze, 375 cm tall, and shows Kafka riding on the shoulders of a headless figure after his 1912 story Description of a Struggle. That statue has its own page at Kafka statue Prague, and the wider museum circuit has its own page at Jewish Museum Prague.

From the Old Shul to the Museum Circuit

The table below lines up the building's key dates. Two reconstructions matter for visitors: the 1958-1959 work and the 1995-1998 project that ended with the synagogue reopening to the public in 1998. It has been under Jewish Museum management since 1955.

The Wartime Warehouse

Between 1939 and 1945 the synagogue was used as a warehouse for property confiscated from Jews. The Jewish Museum in Prague today holds more than 44,000 objects and 130,000 books. The war years themselves are treated at the Pinkas Synagogue, whose walls name about 80,000 Jewish victims from Bohemia and Moravia.

Tickets

Entry comes with the circuit ticket covering the currently open sites of the Jewish Town: the Maisel, Pinkas, Spanish and Old-New Synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery. The museum sells this as one ticket, and this site's comparison sells it as the Jewish Quarter Ticket. Tickets are also sold at the ticket offices of the Spanish, Klausen, Pinkas and Maisel Synagogues and at the Visitor Centre, Maiselova 15.

Practical rules from the museum: individual and family tickets are valid for three calendar days from issue, each site may be entered only once per ticket, sales end 30 minutes before closing, and tickets are non-refundable with no replacement for a lost one. Children up to 6 enter free, an assistant to a severely disabled person gets a free ticket issued at the Visitor Centre, and Prague Visitor Pass and Prague CoolPass holders enter free with one visit per site.

Opening Hours

The museum sites are open daily except Saturdays and Jewish holidays. For 2026 the hours are 9:00-16:30 from 2 January to 31 March, 9:00-18:00 in April, 9:00-19:00 from 1 May to 31 August, 9:00-18:00 from 1 September to 17 October, and 9:00-16:30 from 18 October to 31 December. On 1 January opening is 11:00-16:30 and on 24 December closing is at 14:00.

Visitors are guaranteed entry up to 30 minutes before closing and ushered out 10 minutes before. Closed dates for Jewish holidays are published on the museum's website, so check them before a spring or autumn visit.

Getting There

The synagogue is at Vězeňská 1 in Josefov. Staroměstská metro station on Line A is a 3-minute walk away, and trams 17 and 18 plus buses 194 and 207 stop there too. Old Town Square is 5 minutes on foot and Charles Bridge 10.

The museum advises leaving the car outside the centre, with the nearest paid parking below Čechův most on nábřeží Edvarda Beneše.

Access, Rules and How Long

The Spanish Synagogue has barrier-free access, with a platform lift inside, and the same is true of the Maisel Synagogue. Security checks apply on entry, bags over 30 litres are refused, and there is no luggage storage. Exposed arms, shoulders or midriff, swimwear and bare feet are not allowed. Food, drinks and smoking are banned, dogs are banned except certified assistance dogs, children under 15 must be with an adult, and personal photos are fine without tripod, selfie stick, flash or extra lighting.

For time budgeting, the museum puts a complete tour of all its sites at roughly 2-3 hours. It also advises avoiding the 11:00-15:00 peak, since mornings and late afternoons are much quieter.

Guided Walks With Admission

The clearest option is the Jewish Quarter tour with tickets at $74 per person, a 2.5-hour guided walk that includes entry to the Maisel, Pinkas, Spanish and Old-New Synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery, with skip-the-line entry. It meets at Maiselova 5 and has a 4.7 rating from 4,468 reviews.

If you prefer a private guide, the Jewish Quarter and Museum tour is a 3-hour private walk from $81 per person with a 25 euro entrance fee included, led by a guide certified by the Jewish Museum. Note the listing does not say whether the Old-New Synagogue admission is covered.

Without a guide at all, the Jewish Quarter Ticket at $51 per person is the ticket plus a 20-minute introduction in English and an optional audio guide. It covers the Spanish Synagogue and is valid 1 day.

What to Watch For

Read inclusions carefully on any tour page. Some listings, such as the Inside Jewish Prague tour, mention the Spanish Synagogue in the description but do not state that admission is covered. Only guides accredited in the Czech Republic may guide inside the museum sites, and voice amplifiers are banned, so groups stay quiet inside.

Where a price is quoted per group rather than per person, it always says so. This comparison was checked against the listings shown.