Italy is home to one of the
largest world artistic heritage, for
which the twenty-two centuries old Jewish presence, has played an
important role. In fact, Judaism is one of the most ancient cultures
living in Italy and, over the years, Jewish communities have settled in
almost every region of the peninsula, soaking the artistic sensibility
of local cultures and generating continuous exchanges.
The oldest Jewish settlements were established in Rome and along the Southern coasts.
Here we find
archeological treasures
of extraordinary interest: the remains of the synagogue of Ostia Antica
(Rome); the mosaics of the synagogue discovered in Bova Marina; the
Roman Jewish catacombs; the Venosa catacombs; the still recognizable
medieval synagogues in Trani; the miqveh of Syracuse; and the countless
streets whose names remind us of the Jewish presence in different
cities.
Throughout the 16th century, Jews were expelled from
Spanish domains and gradually moved from the south of Italy to the
north. It’s the beginning of the “ghetto” era, whose characteristic
blocks of buildings are still recognizable today. Nevertheless, the
segregation failed to suppress the cultural and artistic fervor of the
Jewish communities: the synagogues built in the ghettos, still used
today, are secret caskets that hide authentic
masterpieces of Baroque architecture, like the wonderful examples of Venetian synagogues and the small ones of the Jewish communities in Piedmont.
With the emancipation of Jews in 1848, new synagogues were built in a more spectacular and monumental form. The grandiose
"Israelite temples"
of Rome, Florence, Turin, Vercelli, Trieste and other cities, arise at
that time, while in other cities the existing synagogues were renewed
inside and outside.
Also in modern times, we can remark some very valuable experiences for the
Italian synagogal panorama:
the Temple of Livorno, inaugurated on 1962, replacing the old one which
was destroyed during World War II; the Little Temple of Turin, realized
with the Baroque furnishing of the ancient synagogue of Chieri in the
suggestive basement of the main synagogue; and the small synagogue of
Bologna, built on the ruins of a domus romana, below the big temple.
A
hundred cemeteries,
big and small, simple and monumental, tell the stories of those who
created the Jewish communities over the last centuries and sometimes
reflect their involvement in the main society.
The extraordinary heritage of Jewish Italy and its traditions can be found then in the numerous
museums and permanent exhibitions of
the Jewish communities. Many original documents, teaching aids,
magnificent collections of ceremonial furnishings of every age, with a
high artistic and historical-documentary value, hand down to us an
extremely rich history that still goes on, with rituals, traditions, art
and food to be discovered again and again.