In 1679 and 1680, and again between 1713 and 1716, major plague epidemics broke out in Prague. So many citizens of Prague were killed, that in 1680 new cemeteries needed to be established outside the city walls. The city authorities specified that these cemeteries be able to accommodate one thousand burials. Cemeteries were founded by the town councils of the Old Town, New Town, and Jewish Quarter near the village of Olšany (or Volšan), in present-day Žižkov. The Old Town cemetery eventually became the heart of today's Olšany Cemetery. The Old Jewish Cemetery of Žižkov still exists, as a part of the Mahler Gardens (Czech: "Mahlerovy sady") adjacent to the Žižkov Television Tower.