Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Spain, many fled to Venice. Around Campo del Ghetto Nuovo, upper storeys were added
to house new arrivals, synagogues and publishing houses.
According to official orders c 1516, the island's bridges were closed at midnight. Such
laws were abolished under Napoleon in 1797, when some 1626 Ghetto residents gained
standing as Venetian citizens. However, Mussolini's 1938 Racial Laws revived 16th-cen-
tury discrimination, and in 1943 most Jewish Venetians were deported to concentration
camps. As a
memorial
on the northeast end of the
campo
notes, only 37 returned. Today few
of Venice's 400-person Jewish community actually live in the Ghetto, but their children
come to Campo del Ghetto Nuovo to play, surrounded by the Ghetto's living legacy of
bookshops, art galleries and religious institutions.
Synagogues
As you enter Campo del Ghetto Nuovo, look up: atop private apartments is the wooden
cupola of the 1575
Schola Italiana
(Italian Synagogue). The Italians were the poorest in the
Ghetto, and their synagogue is starkly beautiful, with elegantly carved woodwork.
Recognisable from the square by its five long windows, the
Schola Tedesca
MAP
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(German Synagogue) has been the spiritual home of Venice's Ashkenazi
community since 1528. By 16th-century Venetian law, only the German Jewish commu-
nity could lend money, and the success of this trade shows in the handsome decor. The
baroque pulpit and carved benches downstairs are topped by a gilded, elliptical women's
gallery, modelled after a Venetian opera balcony.
Above the Schola Tedesca in the corner of the
campo
, you'll spot the wooden cupola
of
Schola Canton
(the Corner or French Synagogue), built c 1531 with gilded rococo interi-
ors added in the 18th century. Though European synagogues typically avoid figurative im-
agery, this little synagogue makes an exception to the rule with eight charming landscapes
inspired by Biblical parables.
Over the bridge in
Campo del Ghetto Vecchio
, refugees from Portugal and Spain raised two
synagogues considered among the most elegant in northern Italy, with renovated 17th-
century interiors often attributed to Baldassare Longhena. The
Schola Levantina
(Levantine
Synagogue) has a magnificent 17th-century woodworked pulpit, while the main hall of the
Schola Spagnola
(Spanish Synagogue) is reached by a sweeping staircase. This Sephardic
synagogue founded in 1583 shows how Venetian the community had become within a
generation or two, with a flair for Venetian architectural flourishes: repeating geometric
details, high-arched windows, and exuberant marble and carved-wood baroque interiors.
