The Jewish Cemetery in Mikulov

The Jewish Cemetery in Mikulov

Visit Mikulov’s famous cemetery, the final resting place of generations of local Jews, including several important historical figures.

Though it is unclear when the cemetery was established, it must have been soon after the Jewish settlement began, meaning in the middle of the 15th century at the latest. It was expanded several times for lack of space and it is likely that there are layers of graves. Several important Moravian provincial rabbis are buried on the Rabbis’ Mound.
Covering an area of almost two hectares, Mikulov’s Jewish cemetery is full of Renaissance, Baroque and Classicist tombstones whose design and ornamentation became the model for other South Moravian Jewish cemeteries. There are roughly 4,000 headstones, with the oldest dating from 1605. The most valuable part of the cemetery is the Rabbis’ Mount, resting place of the renowned Moravian provincial rabbis Menachem Mendl Krochmal, Shmuel Shmelke Horovitz and Mordechai Benet. The cemetery fell into disrepair after WWII but underwent an extensive renovation as a historical landmark between 2000 and 2006. In 2009 a plaque was unveiled in honour of Rabbi Loew.