The Ghetto: The Jewish District of Venice

Campo Ghetto Nuovo, Venice. Photo by Giovanni Dall'Orto: Image published under Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 2.5 License.

The former Jewish Ghetto is located near the railway station in the Cannaregio district. It is surrounded by canals on all sides.

Jews were permitted to live in Venice from the mid-twelfth century and initially colonised the island of Giudecca, whose name is thought to be a corruption of Giudea, the Italian word for Judea.

The use of the word “ghetto” to describe a segregated community originated in Venice, and is derived from the Italian word “getto” meaning foundry. The site of the  ghetto was previously occupied by a smelting works.

The Jews were forced to live in the Ghetto from 1516 until 1797. The original Ghetto is known as the New Ghetto. It  was extended by the irrationally-named Old Ghetto in 1541, and by the Newest Ghetto in 1633.

In spite of these enlargements, the ghetto never extended much beyond the Campo Nuovo Ghetto and its surrounding buildings. The constant shortage of space meant that the buildings in the ghetto were taller than elsewhere in the city.

The Jewish community was ethnically diverse and included Jews from central Europe, the Middle-East and Spain. Whereas other minorities such as the Greeks and Turks were closely watched, the Jews were kept under lock and key.

The three gates to the Ghetto were locked at night and during certain Christian festivals. The canals which encircle the ghetto were patrolled by armed guards.

The posts of the gate which once barred the narrow passage from the Ghetto to the Fondamenta di Cannaregio are still visible.

Jews were frequently required to wear distinctive yellow clothing and symbols, and were forbidden from practicing all liberal professions and manual trades apart from medicine.

Despite these restrictions the Jews prospered. In addition to  their traditional occupations of tailoring and money-lending, they pioneered new banking and insurance services.

Despite their commercial success, the Jews were not allowed to own or lease land. Their houses in the ghetto were occupied by permission of the city authorities.

The residential restrictions on Jews were abolished after the French invasion of 1797. Although the ghetto's gates were removed, the Jews were not granted full civic status until 1818.

Once they were free to leave, the Jews largely abandoned the ghetto which fell into a state of decay.

Most of the three hundred or so current residents are Jews. The ghetto's two synagogues are still used for worship and there are still several Jewish shops and a Jewish retirement home.

The Museo Ebraico is also located in the ghetto. It displays Jewish arts and crafts, and provides information about Jewish rituals and festivals.

A series of bas-reliefs by Arbit Blatas in  the Campo Nuovo Ghetto are dedicated to the memory of the Holocaust.

Holocaust memorial relief in the Campo Nuovo Ghetto. Photo by Andreas56, 21.10.2005. Image published under GNU Free Documentation License, version 1.2 or later.

The ghetto also contains several 16th century inscriptions warning Jews not to impersonate Christians on pain of death.

The Ghetto is a short walk from the vaporetto stop at the Ponte delle Guglie. 

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