29 tales of legends associated with several well-known sites of old Prague

A collection of twenty-nine tales or legends associated with several well-known sites of old Prague. These buildings, landmarks, and whole areas are woven through with stories that bear the weight of many long centuries of Bohemian history.

Written in the early 1890s, before Czech independence and in an age of patriotic upsurge and romanticism, these thirty-four tales quite naturally reflect a glorification of the Czech past. While the details of the legends are necessarily archaic, peopled by kings and noblemen, ghosts and magic, the themes are universal. Now at the dawn of a new era of Czech independence, they provide a fascinating new perspective to the contemporary situation.

When a young peasant in sixteenth-century Prague is caught stealing, the lord of the manor sentences him to service in the Jewish ghetto, where he discovers unexpected kindness.

For more than eight centuries, the Jews of Prague lived in the Prague ghetto. During that time, Jewish Prague had always been a place of much mystery to outsiders, even to the closest Christian neighbors. Uncover the secrets of this long forgotten world. Learn about how the famous Old-New Synagogue received its name; about the four words that saved the Prague Jews in the Middle Ages; about Rabbi Loew and his Golem who could be brought to life by inserting a magic card into his mouth; about the Candelabra of Jerusalem finding its way to Prague; about hard-working Maisel and his inheritance; about how the faith of Pinkas was tried; about learned Rabbi Rashi's grave; and about much more.