Established in the 15th century, the Old Jewish Cemetery is situated in the Josefov area – a primeval Jewish ghetto – and has 12,000 tombstones scattered all over. The cemetery was established at a time when the Jews were not permitted to bury their dead outside the section earmarked for the community. As the cemetery grew too congested, bodies were buried here on top of one another. And, it is believed that most of the tombstones have twelve layers of burials below them! Currently, no more bodies are buried here and the Jewish Museum in Prague has taken over the responsibility to preserve this chaotic place. Incidentally, the Old Jewish Cemetery was a favorite place for the surrealist writer Franz Kafka who spent much of his idle time here.