Venice

Venice: July 27th through 30th

Beautiful city, great food, the perfect place if you like getting lost

at the Jewish Ghetto

The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jews were compelled to live under the Venetian Republic. It is from its name in Italian ("ghetto"), that the English word "ghetto" is derived: in the Venetian language it was named "ghèto". The Venetian Ghetto (incidentally, the first Ghetto) was instituted in 1516, though political restrictions on Jewish rights and residences existed before that date.

In 1516 the Venetian Government issued special laws creating the first Ghetto of Europe. It was an area where Jews were forced to live and which they could not leave from sunset to dawn. The area was closed by gates watched by guards (the marks of the hinges are visible). Jews were allowed to practice only some professions: they were doctors, because they were the most prepared and able to understand Arab writings, money lenders, because Catholic religion forbade this practice, merchants and "strazzarioli", ragsellers. The Ghetto existed for more than two and a half centuries, until Napoleon conquered Venice and finally opened and eliminated every gate (1797): Jews were finally free to live in other areas of the city.

Today, the Ghetto is still a center of Jewish life in the city. Every year, there is an international conference on Hebrew Studies held there. Although only around 300 of Venice's roughly 1,000 Jews still live in the Ghetto, many return there during the day for religious services in the two synagogues which are still used. (from Wikipedia and http://www.ghetto.it/ghetto/en/index.asp)