Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Hour-long English-language tours of the synagogues leave from Museo Ebraico seven
to eight times daily starting at 10.30am, and lead inside three of the Ghetto's synagogues:
Schola Tedescha, Schola Canton, and either Schola Italiana or still-active Schola
Spagnola. The Schola Levantina is still used for Saturday prayers in winter (it has heat-
ing), while the Schola Spagnola is used in summer.
WARNING
On the wall at No 1131 Calle del Ghetto Vecchio, an official 1704 decree of the Republic forbids Jews converted
to Christianity entry into the Ghetto, punishable by 'the rope [hanging], prison, galleys, flogging…and other
greater punishments, depending on the judgment of their excellencies (the Executors Against Blasphemy)'.
Museo Ebraico
At the Ghetto's heart,
Museo Ebraico
MAP
GOOGLE MAP
(Jewish Museum;
041 71 53 59;
www.museoebraico.it
; Campo del Ghetto Nuovo 2902b; adult/student €4/3; 10am-7pm Sun-Fri except Jewish holi-
days Jun-Sep, 10am-5.30pm Sun-Fri Oct-May)
explores the history of Venice's Jewish community
through everyday artefacts, and showcases its pivotal contributions to Venetian, Italian
and world history. Opened in 1955, the museum has a small collection of finely worked
silverware and other Judaica art objects used in private prayer and to decorate syn-
agogues, as well as early books published in the Ghetto during the Renaissance. Entry to
the museum is included with tickets for guided synagogue tours, and you can also enquire
at the museum about guided tours to the Antico Cimitero Israelitico (Old Jewish Ce-
metery) on the Lido.
RENAISSANCE IN THE GHETTO
Despite a 10-year censorship order issued by the church in Rome in 1553, Jewish Venetian publishers contributed
hundreds of titles popularising new Renaissance ideas on humanist philosophy, medicine and religion - including
the first printed Qur'an. In the 17th century, the Schola Italiana's learned rabbi Leon da Modena was so widely
respected as a thinker and scientist that Christians began attending his services, and Modena accommodated them
by delivering his sermons in Italian. Ghetto literary salons organised by Modena, bestselling philosopher Sara
Copia Sullam and other notable Venetian Jewish intellectuals brought leading thinkers of all faiths to the Ghetto.
The Ghetto's literary tradition continues today, with religious study centers ringing the
campo
.
