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The Old Jewish Cemetery lies in the Josefov, the Jewish Quarter of Prague in the Czech Republic. It was in use from the early 15th century (the oldest preserved tombstone, the one of Avigdor Kara, dates back to 1439) until 1787. Its ancestor was a cemetery called "The Jewish Garden", which was found in archaeological excavations under the Vladislavova street, New Town. The numbers of grave stones and numbers of people buried there are uncertain, because there are layers of tombs. However, it has been estimated that there are approximately 12,000 tombstones presently visible and there may be as many as 100,000 burials in all. A powerfully emotional place for a persons of any belief.
Images taken October 2006.
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Prague, or Praha as is proper , is the capital city of the Czech Republic. It is no longer referred to as Czechoslovakia. Since splitting from the Country of Slovakia the Czech Republic stands on its own a jewel in the middle of Europe. Kidnapped by communism for 40 years, Prague has returned to the capitalist fold to become one of Europe's most popular tourist destinations. Largely undamaged by the ravages of WWII, its cityscape offers a smorgasbord of stunning architecture, from the soaring verticals of Gothic spires and the buxom exuberance of baroque domes to the sensuous elegance of Art Nouveau maidens and the chiseled cheekbones of Cubist façades. Images taken November 2006.
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|   Wikipedia
| Kostnice (Church of Bones), Kutna Hora, Sedlec Ossuary, Prague. Kutna Hora was once one of the most important towns in Bohemia, home to rich silver mines that made the Bohemian King extremely wealthy. The town prospered during the 14th century, and the population soared. There are remains of 40 thousand people in the Charnel House. So why were so many corpses buried here? 1278 the Cistercian abbot of Sedlec, Henry, traveled to Palestine and the ‘Holy Land’, bringing home a sample of earth from Golgotha which was later, upon his return, sprinkled over the grounds of his local cemetery. The grounds were immediately considered scared, and hence became a much sought after location for relatives to bury their dead. In the 14th century, the Black Death spread the bubonic plague across Europe and now 30,000 bodies all wanted a resting place within the sacred grounds. Such vast numbers of dead led to the creation of the ossuary in 1511 by a half-blind monk who gathered up the bones to be stacked up within the ossuary, making space for new corpses, which were soon taken up by more victims from 15th century Hussite Wars. Kostnice - Church of Bones Click here!! Images taken November 2006.
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Budapest, capital city of Hungary, is actually 2 different cities. Split by the Danube river; the Buda side is the west and more hilly side of the city, while the Pest (Pesht) side is the more commercialized face. With remnants of World War I and II along with the uprising against the communist rule in 1956 this country is coming back and is moving into the future while still maintaining its past. In 1987, it was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for the cultural and architectural significance of the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue. Images taken October 2006.
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