Jubilejní synagoga, Prague

Jubilejní synagoga is the building before you: an active Orthodox Jewish synagogue whose façade combines Moorish forms with Art Nouveau design. Its broad Islamic arch frames a rosette window bearing a Star of David, while the gable carries marble tablets of the Ten Commandments and small towers. The architect was Wilhelm Stiassny, and construction took place from 1905 to 1906 as a replacement for synagogues demolished during the clearance of Prague’s Jewish ghetto.

The street-facing inscription comes from Psalm 118 and means, “This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it.” Its Hebrew letters also encode the Jewish year corresponding to 1906, the year the building was completed. Look at the entrance portico: biblical words once appeared there in Hebrew, Czech, and German; the Czech and German versions were restored during the 2019 reconstruction.

Inside, rows of Islamic arches support the women’s gallery, and stained-glass windows illuminate the prayer space. A concealed parchment from 1906 was found beneath a marble panel near the Torah ark in 2003. The synagogue still holds services, and its surviving liturgical melodies by Salomon Sulzer give this richly ornamented building a living musical tradition.