The Jewish Ghetto, Venice
The Jewish Ghetto of Venice. Photo by whiteant.
Street in the Venice Ghetto. Photo by lizamber.
Top-floor Ghetto synagogue. Photo by sladoled.
Tasty Jewish treats on display in the Ghetto. Photo by littlekim.
Holocaust memorial. Photo by Mr Crash.
Multilingual Holocaust memorial plaque in the Ghetto. Photo by KittyCate.
Modern ghetto: a menorah and Tibetan prayer flags. Photo by DDanzig.
Il Ghetto (the Jewish Ghetto) in Venice is the area in which all Jews were forced to live from the 16th to the 18th century.
Made famous by Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice, the Venice Ghetto is now a pleasant neighborhood where Venice's small Jewish community still lives. It also the home of a Jewish museum, the Museo Communità Ebraica.
Venice's relationship with its longtime Jewish community fluctuated over time from acceptance to tolerance, with attitudes often influenced by the fear that Jewish moneylenders and merchants would infiltrate other sectors of the republic's commerce under a government that thrived on secrecy and control.
In 1516, 700 Jews were forced to move to a then-remote northwestern corner of Venice, to an abandoned site of a 14th-century foundry. The word "ghetto," soon used throughout Europe for isolated minority groups, originated in Venice: ghetto is old Venetian dialect for "foundry."
Like most of the islands that make up Venice, the ghetto was totally surrounded by water. Its two access points were controlled at night and early morning by heavy gates manned by Christian guards (paid for by the Jews), both protecting and segregating its inhabitants.
Within one century, the community grew to more than 5,000, representing many languages and cultures. Although the original Ghetto was periodically expanded, land was limited and quarters always cramped.
With the arrival of Napoléon in 1797, the ghetto was disbanded and Jews were free to move wherever they liked, but the Jews realized full freedom only in the late 19th century with the founding of the Italian state.
On the eve of World War II there were about 1,500 Jews left in the ghetto. During the Holocaust, 247 Venetian Jews were deported by the Nazis; only eight returned. The Nazis gathered Jews for deportation in the square next to the Casa di Riposo Israelitica.
Today, the historic ghetto remains the center of Venice's ever-diminishing Jewish community; anywhere from 500 to 2,000 Jews now live in all of Venice.
Aside from its historic interest, Il Ghetto is also one of the less touristy neighborhoods in Venice (though it is becoming somewhat of a nightspot), and makes for a pleasant and scenic place to stroll.
The ghetto consists of an open square surrounded by "skyscrapers" on three sides. The lack of space in the ghetto resulted in many buildings having as many as seven low-ceilinged stories with no elevator.
Venetian laws forbade the building of separate synagogues, so the synagogues were built on the top floors of the buildings - Jewish law says there should be no obstructions between the congregation and the heavens. Frequent tours of three of the five synagogues are given by the nearby Museo Communità Ebraica.
On both sides of the Casa di Riposa building are Holocaust memorials designed by sculptor Arbit Blatas. One of the monuments is a bronze panel depicting the Last Train, the other monument has bronze reliefs that show the Nazi brutality against the Jews.
Venice's first kosher restaurant, Gam Gam, recently opened on Fondamenta di Cannaregio 1122 (tel. 041-715-284) near the entrance to the Jewish Ghetto and close to the Guglie vaporetto stop. Owned and run by Orthodox Jews from New York, it serves lunch and dinner Sunday through Friday, with an early Friday closing after lunch.
| Location: | Cannaregio (Campo del Ghetto Nuovo) in NW Venice, Italy |
| Vaporetto: | Guglie or San Marcuola |
Getting There
From either of the 2 vaporetto stops, or if walking from the train station area, locate the Ponte delle Guglie. Walking away from the Grand Canal along the Fondamenta di Cannaregio, look for a doorway on your right with Hebrew etched across the threshold; this is the entrance to the Calle del Ghetto Vecchio (Old Ghetto) that leads to the Campo del Ghetto Nuovo (New Ghetto).
Location Map
Below is a location map and aerial view of the Jewish Ghetto in Venice. Using the buttons on the left, zoom in for a closer look or zoom out to get your bearings. Click and drag the map to move around. For a larger view, see our Venice Map or get our free Google Earth download.
