TRIESTE
Trieste, the "Gate of Zion", the city that helped thousands of Jews from Central and Eastern Europe emigrate to the current state of Israel, but has been always an important center where the Jewish community flourished. Here we find one of the largest synagogues in Europe, the Museo Carlo e Vera Wagner, the Risiera di San Sabba, sadly known for being the only concentration camp in Italy and the Jewish cemetery. Trieste, the Mediterranean's main coffee port, it is the hub for the coffee industry. The town has a peculiar atmosphere of the great Austro-Hungarian Empire, through its elegant palaces, the historic Viennese-style squares and amazing views on the beautiful Gulf.
GORIZIA
Gorizia, a border town divided between two nations, multicultural melting point between Slovenia and Italy, had a Jewish presence since the sixteenth century, even if in a fairly small number. The peculiarity for the Gorizia community is the Jewish cemetery that has always remained outside the Italian borders. In the past it was under Austrian Empire that ruled these areas, returned to the hands of the Italians only in 1914 and after the Second World War onwards the cemetery became part of the Slovenian territory, nowadays Valdirose (Rožna Dolina).
GRADISCA D’ISONZO
VENEZIA
The first Jews settled in Venice in the 16th century. 1516 was the year of the foundation of the first ghetto, an area circumscribed and bordered by gates that remained closed from sunrise, with the supervision of Christian guardians. The community at that time was very cosmopolitan, in fact the Jews was settled there came from all over Europe making the ghetto a cultural hub. Between 1500 and the middle of 1600, each ethnic group built its own "Scola", or synagogue. These incredible structures were on the upper floors of private houses, testifying to the value of the ghetto of Venice, and maintaining their traditions. Today it is an intimate vibrant district with art galleries, where the Jewish museum it’s an important landmark. An important site of the Jewish presence in Venice is also the cemetery located on the Lido of Venice, which was used from 1389.
PADOVA
Padua is famous as a centre for Talmudic studies and had a continuous Jewish presence since the 11th century. The town was the only University in Europe to accept Jewish students in the school of medicine way back in the 15th century. Padua has also been home to Jewish settlements since the 12th century. . The visit will include the Ghetto, in the heart of the historic center with the Italian synagogue of 1548 that still survives and houses the Community offices. Moreover, the Spanish rites synagogue of 1617, used nowadays as a lecture hall. In its cemeteries, we find tombs of illustrious rabbis becomed destination of pilgrimages, as is the case with Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen (1482-1565) mainly visited by pilgrims from Eastern Europe. A visit to Padua deserves also for it’s lively atmosphere in the city center and the frescoes mastierpieces made between 1305 and 1397, with the arrival of Giotto up to Jacopo da Verona, revolutionizing the art history.
VERONA
In 1638 the Corte Spagnole was a narrow alley for the Sephardic Jews and at the heart of the ghetto still today is the German rites synagogue, which was opened in 1864.The construction of the Temple of Verona dates back to 1864 on the initiative of Rabbi Pardo. The first project was not finished due to lack of funds, and the current building is the completion of the '800 made by the famous architect Ettore Fagiuoli. The new Ashkenazi Temple was inaugurated on 29 September 1929 and is the only Synagogue in Verona. The prayer room is furnished with oriental-like decorations, lush details and inlaid stonework and the wall with the holy ark is particularly beautiful. Of note is the richly decorated vaulted ceiling. The Jewish heritage area is located in the very city center of the town, few steps away from the magnificent Arena di Verona which is worth a visit.
MANTOVA
The first Jews settled in Mantua in 1145, growing particular under the Gonzaga dynasty and in the 18th century was the largest in Italy. Of the 12 synagogues of the old ghetto only one has survived, the Norsa Torrazzo Temple, which was first built in 1513 and later rebuilt in 1902 and is classified as a national monument. The wall decorations, the sumptuous Aronot, and the early eighteenth century Tevot are original and attest to the past splendor of this community. We suggest to wander a little in this beautiful cozy city visiting by foot the Duke’s Palace or the amazing Palazzo Te and its frescoes or take a cruise in the lakes, admiring the beautiful skiline of the Gonzaga’s city from the water and meet the variety and beauty of flora and fauna through the Mincio’s Park.
MILANO
The Jewish community of Milan is the second largest in Italy after Rome and includes many ethnic components of Persian, Middle Eastern and Eastern Europe. It dates back to the Roman period, in fact Hebrew inscriptions have been found by the archeologist in the city center. The central synagogue, Hechal David u- Mordechai, is the largest Jewish monument in the city, built by Luca Beltrami in 1892. The temple was struck by a bomb in 1943. Although rebuilt in 1953 and greatly altered inside, it still has the original façade. The city offers interesting visits and in 2013 was inaugurated the Holocaus memorial in the central station.
SABBIONETA
Sabbioneta Jewish community is famous worldwide for his banking history and for the printing presses that brought to life some of the finest Hebrew masterpieces. To these days Jewish printers still operate in Via della Stamperia. Here you can visit the 19th century synagogue and the Museum of Sacred Art known for its unique blue glass mezuzoth. Sabbioneta is the ideal town that Vespasiano Gonzaga created between 1569 and 1591 in the province of Mantua.
In this place, the Duke (who died in Sabbioneta in 1591) created a unique city from urban modernization to the social interweaving and multicultural. The settlement favored the growth of a populous Jewish community and demonstrates that the city created by Vespasiano Gonzaga was a serenely multi-ethnic environment. Do not miss a visit to the “Teatro all’antica or Teatro Olimpico”
ALESSANDRIA
The Jewish Community of Alessandria, present in the city since the late Middle Ages, was one of the most important in the Piedmont region. Passed in the second half of the 20th century under the control of the Jewish community of Turin, in the 21st century it has been reduced to a few units. In Alessandria, you can still see the great synagogue, and inside the small winter temple, considered a precious element of Piedmontese Jewish art.
CARMAGNOLA
CASALE MONFERRATO
Casale Monferrato is a small gem of Piedmont that preserves a magnificent Baroque synagogue dating back to 1600. The streets of the ghetto still retain their original appearance, with connecting courtyards and long balconies, while inside the buildings once existed passages that allowed to move from one house to another without going out into the street.
CHERASCO
SALUZZO
TORINO
The presence of Jews in Piedmont is mainly witnessed by the 12 historical synagogues, which represent a collection of Jewish cultural heritage unique in Italy. The Piedmontese temples are mainly of two categories. The pre-emancipation synagogues were placed inside a house in order not to be recognizable from the outside and among these, there is the baroque example of Carmagnola, which preserves inside a beautiful octagonal canopy Tevà, inlaid and painted wood, which dates back to 1766. The post-emancipation synagogues, on the other hand, are characterized by monumental architecture, including those of Asti, Cuneo and Turin. The building that originally was destined to become the imposing synagogue of the city of the "Gianduiotto" is the monumental Mole Antonelliana, which in the course of work was sold by the Jewish community to the municipality of Turin because it was too expensive, and now it is the National Museum of Cinema, but still very interesting for its Jewish inspiration architecture.
ALESSANDRIA
The Jewish Community of Alessandria, present in the city since the late Middle Ages, was one of the most important in the Piedmont region. Passed in the second half of the 20th century under the control of the Jewish community of Turin, in the 21st century it has been reduced to a few units. In Alessandria, you can still see the great synagogue, and inside the small winter temple, considered a precious element of Piedmontese Jewish art.
CARMAGNOLA
CASALE MONFERRATO
Casale Monferrato is a small gem of Piedmont that preserves a magnificent Baroque synagogue dating back to 1600. The streets of the ghetto still retain their original appearance, with connecting courtyards and long balconies, while inside the buildings once existed passages that allowed to move from one house to another without going out into the street.
CHERASCO
SALUZZO
TORINO
The presence of Jews in Piedmont is mainly witnessed by the 12 historical synagogues, which represent a collection of Jewish cultural heritage unique in Italy. The Piedmontese temples are mainly of two categories. The pre-emancipation synagogues were placed inside a house in order not to be recognizable from the outside and among these, there is the baroque example of Carmagnola, which preserves inside a beautiful octagonal canopy Tevà, inlaid and painted wood, which dates back to 1766. The post-emancipation synagogues, on the other hand, are characterized by monumental architecture, including those of Asti, Cuneo and Turin. The building that originally was destined to become the imposing synagogue of the city of the "Gianduiotto" is the monumental Mole Antonelliana, which in the course of work was sold by the Jewish community to the municipality of Turin because it was too expensive, and now it is the National Museum of Cinema, but still very interesting for its Jewish inspiration architecture.
BOLOGNA
The Jewish presence in Bologna goes back to the 14th century, with the arrival of refugees from Rome and central Italy who influenced all fields of the local economy from medicine, to book making, clothing business, and silk trade. Strolling through the narrow streets of the ghetto, today revitalized by artisans and small shops, you will reach the Jewish Museum situated in the prestigious Palazzo Pannolini. Equipped with state-of-the-art technologies and multimedia displays, the museum reconstructs the history of the Jews of Bologna and Emilia Romagna from Medieval times to the present. The visit continues in the new Jewish quarter and the synagogue.
CARPI
The first Jewish presence in Carpi dates in the 14th century but the city is today mostly remembered for the infamous concentration camp of Fossoli where many Italian Jews and prisoners of War were rounded up before being sent to Germany and Poland. A monument and research center remembering the victims and the history of the camp were created in 1973. Fossoli was established in1942 by the Fascist authorities and was then used by the Nazis. In seven months since 1944 about 5000 deportees passed through the Fossoli, half of them were Jewish, including the writer Primo Levi.
FERRARA
Jews settled in Ferrara in the Middle Ages. In the 19th and 20th centuries, many members of the Jewish community held high-rank social and political positions in the city. Among them were also those Italian Jews who began to explore the newly spread ideas of Zionism. Few Italian cities preserved the feel of their Jewish memory as Ferrara. Descending the streets of the ghetto, still intact in their original layout and entering the synagogue, the Scola Tedesca, built in 1421 and the Jewish Museum that displays the Torah Ark of the Scola Italiana, where the visitor experiences in an instant the history of many centuries. The Ghetto is area preserved intact both in look and layout throughout various restorations, nowadays pedestrian area and that never lost the commercial character it had since its inception, remaining a pleasant place to meet up, look around, learn, and shop.
MODENA
A group of Jewish people settled in Modena in the 15th century and enjoyed a long period of peace under the Estense Duchy. In 1638 the community was confined into a squalid quarter, where nonetheless, scholarship and Cabalistic studies flourished. The city became custodian of a rich collection of illuminated Hebrew manuscripts, today preserved in the Biblioteca Estense. The monumental Italian-rite synagogue was built in 1873 replacing the three small synagogues of the ghetto as a celebration of the emancipation. Today it is only used for major festivities, while normal religious services are held in the prayer room of the German-rite oratory, which is in the same building of the synagogue.
SORAGNA
Few Jewish families arrived in Soragna after being expelled from Parma and Piacenza, and when Duke Ottavio Farnese allowed them to open loan-banks in sixteen rural localities in 1562. The Synagogue is situated in the town center inside what was called "Casa Grande delli Hebrei" was built at the beginning of the XVII century and renovated in the middle of the XIX century. The village is spread around the medieval rocca (fortress), turned into a palace, called the Rocca Meli Lupi. It has 16th century frescoes by Cesare Baglione, possibly Niccolò dell'Abbate, and others. The surrounding park was turned into an English garden around 1820. The castle still belongs to the family of the princes who favored the peaceful settlement of the Jewish community in Soragna and can be visited on request.
FIRENZE
In Florence the Jewish presence is linked to the unmistakable green dome of the Synagogue that embellishes the city panorama. Its harmonious presence still bears witness to the will of Cavalier David Levi to build a "Monumental Temple worthy of the city". Inaugurated in 1882 in the "Mattonaia" district, the Synagogue is the beating heart of the city’s Jewish community and an integral part of the city’s history. Don't miss the Uffizi Gallery where you will discover the connections between the Renaissance and the Jewish world. You will find inspiring works of art with Jewish subjects and our professional guides will help you weave the threads of ancient tales.
LIVORNO
The community of Livorno was founded after Ferdinando I de’ Medici had sent letters patent to invite mainly Portuguese Marranos to settle Livorno and Pisa in 1693. He offered them the freedom to trade and workship, protection from the Inquisition and naturally no ghetto rules. The Livorno community grew so large that by 1614 it was independent from Pisa community. But after being damaged by the Napoleonic blockade and having lost its status as a free port, Livorno went into decline and with it the Jewish community. After the Second World War, a new synagogue was opened, built on the site of the previous synagogue. The Jewish community has always been very integrated in Livorno and the visit to the two Jewish Cemeteries will surprise for the many illustrious Livorno residents who are buried here by the great sages of Livorno, the great rabbis of the 18th and 19th centuries, the families of merchants and scholars. which can be found in the urban toponymy, to the Modigliani family from great-grandmother to father Flaminio, to Guido Menasci, librettist of the famous opera Cavalleria rusticana and many others.
PISA
Like Livorno, Pisa had no ghetto obbligations. The Jewish group in the Pisa is thought to be the oldest in the whole of Tuscany: the first evidence dates from the year 850. The community had always been concentrated in a single quarter and the modern history is bound up with the economic history of the city, since Jews played an active part in its growth.
PITIGLIANO
Pitigliano, known as the "Little Jerusalem", is one of the few cities in Italy, where imprisonment in the ghetto has not hindered relations between the Jews and the local population. You will be surprised by the iconic cliffs, the beauty of the view from the top of the city and its medieval center with narrow cobblestone streets and you will be "inebriated" by the famous wine "Bianco di Pitigliano". Visiting the Jewish Museum of Pitigliano is truly a unique experience. The internal path shows the rooms of the ghetto that were dug underground, in the soft tuff, with the windows open in the rock. Other rooms that can be visited are the ritual bath, the lead-free bread oven, the textile dyeing plant, the cellar and the kosher butcher, as well as the synagogue.
SIENA
The Siena community was famed for its bankers, like Ismaele da Rieti in the 16th century, scholars and rabbis. Forced to live in the ghetto from 1571, they organized it as a city within the city, with as many as five Rabbinical schools. The Synagogue was officially opened in 1786, and it has a Neoclassical style In the 19th century, Siena was the cradle of many important studies, thanking the presence of ancient assistance brotherhoods and famous schools with distinguished scholars. Many traces of the Jewish history in the beautiful Siena, can be found just walking in the old ghetto area and the ancient women's gallery, on two floors, overlooks the synagogue hall and houses the Jewish Museum. Protected by perforated wooden grates with floral motifs, it is a cozy place full of suggestions. No longer used for ritual use, it integrates the visit to the Synagogue and hosts a path of texts, images, prayer books and objects that trace the most significant aspects of the long Jewish presence in Siena.
ANCONA
The city of Ancona has hosted in the past a very large Jewish community influencing its history. Today the Jewish community of Ancona is the only active in the region, with two Synagogues and two Jewish cemeteries: the ancient and picturesque one dating back to the fifteenth century, and the Jewish section of the municipal cemetery, of the the nineteenth century. Jewish cemeteries and synagogues no longer used for functions are located in Pesaro, Senigallia and Urbino.
PESARO
SENIGALLIA
URBINO
MACERATA
The city famous all over the world for its open-air theater called Sferisterio. Although today there is no longer a Jewish community in this beautiful city as pink as the color of the bricks it is built with, its history is well documented. Inside the town hall there is a Jewish stone inscription from 1553, probably coming from the former Jewish cemetery of Cappuccini Vecchi. The Jewish ghetto was located where Vicolo Ferrari stands today and in the municipal archive, some documents report the Jewish presence to the year 1287
FANO
SANT’ANGELO IN VADO
ROMA
Jews have been present in Rome for more than two thousand years, as witnessed the panels under the Arch of Titus. In 1555 Pope Paul IV Carafa ordered the closure of all Jews in the Church State in the ghetto: a prison district, in which Jews were forced to live, after losing their civil rights. In 1870, with the suppression of the Church State, Rome was united to Italy and the ghetto was opened and shortly afterwards razed to the ground. For the Jews of Rome, emancipation began, the most visible result of which was the construction of the Temple Major, inaugurated in 1904 on the esplanade where the ghetto once existed. Now the former ghetto area is one of the most beautiful hidden treasures of the city with many typical restaurants offering the great culinary Jewish traditional in Rome.
NAPOLI
The Neapolitan Synagogue is located in the central district of San Ferdinando, in the heart of the city, a step from Piazza dei Martiri and is the only community south of Rome. The Jewish presence here is very ancient and dates back to the first century, as evidenced by the many traces present in the city and in the place names. There is not only the Synagogue: walking through the alleys of the historic center, despite all the urban changes, you can still find the streets of the Giudecca, the ancient neighborhood where the Jews lived, as Naples never had a ghetto.
TRANI
There is an ancient Jewish heart in the old town of Trani. Not far from the bell tower of Nicolaus a network of narrow streets leads to the Giudecca, the district that since the Middle Ages was inhabited by a community of Jews. The main buildings are the two synagogues, the Maggiore (today Sant'Anna) and Schola Nova (today Santa Maria Nova), both built in the thirteenth century.
SIRACUSA
Since ancient times Syracuse has hosted a large Jewish community, established in the Roman period in the district of Akradina, on the mainland. During the Middle Ages the city was reduced and moved to the island of Ortigia, today’s historic center of Syracuse. Also the Jewish community, moved to the island in a small district on the northern edge. Still today, this district is called the "Giudecca". During the 15th century, practising Jews were expelled from the Kingdom of Spain. The district was depopulated, in 1693 a terrible earthquake destroyed the city, and the original ancient buildings were not rebuilt.
PALERMO
“1492” it was for the Sicilian Jews the year of their expulsion from the island, as from all the Jewish possessions in Spain. The Jews, in Palermo, and for several centuries, resided in an area outside the city walls which was accessed from the Porta Giudaica, and in the period of greatest splendor, in times of peace, the neighborhood swarmed with thousands of people. They were very dedicated to metalworking, so it was important to stay in swampy places, where they could harden their artifacts. The "giardinaccio" close to the southern walls and near the "river of bad weather" presented itself as a suitable place to build their Synagogue, their "Meschita", their "Guzzetta". The Giudecca of Palermo of the fifteenth century was composed of houses that had two peculiarities: the development in height, by successive additions of floors, and the "gheniza", in practice a hollow in the entrance door, at the height of the jamb, in where a mezuzah was kept. Today the streets that were once Jewish are indicated with trilingual plates, Italian, Arabic and Hebrew, so that any tourist can understand that they are walking in the neighborhood that until 1492 was inhabited by Jews.
MARSALA
In Marsala the visit will take place around the Vie Frisella and D’Anna that crossed the neighborhood of the Universitas Judeorum. Here were built the Synagogue, the Public Stalls Judeorum, the "Scola de li judei" and, at both ends, the ancient palace of the Roman Praetors (later Palazzo Ferro and then the Monastery of Santo Stefano) and the Mother Church of San Tommaso Becket , Archbishop of Canterbury, founded in the second half of the twelfth century, enlarged and refounded in the seventeenth century, the main monument of the city where until 1492 ceremonies were held in which the Jewish community was obligatorily involved.
MAZARA DEL VALLO
In Mazara del Vallo, the municipality recalled the presence of the large Jewish community prior to 1492, indicating an itinerary in the medieval kasbah with the help of artistic majolicas painted in a path that will lead to the "Platea della Jureca": an ancient market place and later the ancient synagogue. The topographical structure of the town, typical of the Mediterranean Middle Ages, is characterized by narrow and winding alleys, such as Vicolo Vipera, the oldest in Mazara, which has preserved the original flooring. The Jewish housing units were closed with sequences of internal courtyards.