Landmarks

Remuh Cemetery

Remuh Cemetery, also known as the Remu Cemetery, is a Jewish necropolis at 40 Szeroka Street in Kraków’s Kazimierz district. The first burials date from 1551, while the oldest surviving gravestone dates from 1552. Austrian authorities closed it in 1800; the latest surviving gravestone dates from 1850.

The grave of Rabbi Rema

The cemetery’s central memorial is the grave of Moses Isserles, known as Remuh or Rema, who died in 1572. A Kraków rabbi and yeshiva rector, he was a leading authority of Ashkenazi Judaism. Other rabbis and scholars buried here include Natan Spira and Joel Sirkes. The neighbouring Remuh Synagogue, founded by Isserles’s father, remains a place of prayer.

War damage, reconstruction and the memorial wall

During the Second World War, the cemetery was almost completely destroyed. Work in 1959 uncovered around 700 gravestones buried underground; about 711 tombstones and matzevot are now displayed on the site. Damaged fragments were incorporated into the wall along Szeroka Street, commonly called the Wailing Wall.

Visiting and practical information

The entrance is beside Remuh Synagogue at 40 Szeroka Street. According to the Jewish Religious Community in Kraków, the cemetery is open Sunday to Friday from 10:00 to 18:00 in summer and from 10:00 to 16:00 in winter; it is closed on Saturdays and Jewish holidays. Check holiday notices before setting out. This is a place of worship and remembrance: keep quiet, do not touch the matzevot and allow about 30 minutes. Combine it with Remuh Synagogue and the wider Jewish heritage route through Kazimierz.