Czech Republic · Hlavní město Praha · Prague
Josefov, Prague — Area Guide & Where to Stay
Josefov is the smallest cadastral quarter of Prague. Wrapped on nearly every side by the Old Town, it served for centuries as the city's walled Jewish ghetto before slum clearance drove wide new avenues through its crowded lanes. The old community flag still marks it, a yellow Star of David on a red field. Its surviving synagogues and cemetery form the Jewish Museum in Prague.
About Josefov
Where to stay in Josefov
Each area has its own feel; here's who each one suits.
Choosing Josefov means basing yourself inside Prague's historic core, a few steps from Old Town Square. The quarter is compact and upscale. Luxury frontages line Pařížská, and a handful of hotels sit along that avenue and the river embankment, so beds within the tiny cadastral area stay limited.
Sightseeing beats nightlife here: the Jewish Museum in Prague stands at the doorstep, and the Old Town Hall lies a short walk south. Travellers wanting more rooms can spread into the surrounding Old Town, which wraps Josefov on every landward side.
About Josefov
What are the main landmarks in Josefov?
The district's signature sight is the Jewish Museum in Prague, which threads the surviving synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery into a single ticketed collection. All of it sits within two blocks. Just past Josefov's southern edge, Old Town Square opens with the medieval Old Town Hall and its famous astronomical clock.
The Church of Our Lady before Týn lifts its twin spires over that same square. Deeper in Old Town stands the Church of St. James the Greater.
What is the history of Josefov?
Josefov grew out of Prague's medieval Jewish quarter, the walled ghetto to which the city's Jews were confined for generations. Emperor Joseph II gave it its name. His reforms eased the old restrictions, and the ghetto was renamed in his honour.
Around the turn of the twentieth century, city planners condemned the overcrowded ghetto and drove broad new avenues through it, clearing away most of the medieval housing. The synagogues and the Old Jewish Cemetery survived to anchor the Jewish Museum in Prague.
Where is Josefov?
The quarter sits on the right bank of the Vltava, in the heart of central Prague. Old Town frames it to the south, east, and west, so the former ghetto's edges dissolve into the wider medieval centre without a clear seam. The river is its northern edge.
Pařížská, the broad avenue cut during the clearance, runs from Old Town Square up to the Vltava bridges.
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Updated July 2026