The New or Great Synagogue, situated in…

The New or Great Synagogue, situated in Josefov, Prague, completed in 1270 in the Gothic style, is one of Prague's first Gothic buildings.

Nine steps lead from the street into a vestibule, from which a door opens into a double-nave with six vaulted bays.

This double-nave system is most likely adapted from plans of monasteries and chapels by the synagogue's Christian architects.

The molding on the tympanum of the synagogue’s entryway has a design that incorporates twelve vines and twelve bunches of grapes, said to represent the twelve tribes of Israel.

Two large pillars aligned east to west in the middle of the room each support the interior corner of four bays.

The bays have two narrow Gothic windows on the sides, for a total of twelve, again representing the twelve tribes.

The vaulting on the six bays has five ribs instead of the typical four or six.

It has been suggested that this was an attempt to avoid associations with the Christian cross.

Many scholars dispute this theory, pointing to synagogues that have quadripartite ribs, and Christian buildings that have the unusual five rib design.

When newer synagogues are built in the sixteenth century, the building will become known as the Old-New Synagogue.

Today Europe's oldest active synagogue, with the Scolanova Synagogue in Italy, it is also the oldest surviving medieval synagogue of twin nave design.