Jewish Ferrara | World Jewish Travel

Jewish city story of Ferrara

Ferrara is the only city in Emilia-Romagna to have an uninterrupted Jewish presence from the middle ages to the present. Although there are no references nor documents before the 13th century CE, Ferrara’s Jewish presence is said to date back to the distant past.

Under the Duchy of Este, the community enjoyed its finest years: the dukes offered shelter to refugees from Spain and Portugal after 1492 and from Eastern Europe. The city became a melting pot of different Jewish cultures, which not only lived together within the same Jewish context, but also embellished the city in which they lived with significant social and cultural contributions. Few Italian cities have preserved the feel of the Jewish memory, both distant and recent, as keenly as Ferrara. Going down the streets of the ghetto, still intact in its original layout, and entering the synagogues and museum, means exploring three centuries of...

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The Jewish Ghetto

Although there are no references nor documents before the 13th century CE, Ferrara’s Jewish presence is said to date back to the distant past. The community blossomed in the 15th and 16th centuries under the Dukes of Este who granted Jews a number of rights, although there were limitations in the law and records of episodes of intolerance in the town. Thanks to Este's inclusive approach aimed at reviving their capital city, throughout their rule very important personalities of the Jewish world of the time passed through Ferrara. There were about two thousand Jews living in the city and ten prayer halls, often associated with private pawn shops. However, the situation changed when Duke Alfonso II died heirless in 1597 and Ferrara returned under the Church, given it was a papal feud. The Este Court retreated to Modena and many Jews followed them. In Ferrara Jews were progressively excluded from rights, and in 1624 the Ghetto was established in the heart of the medieval city, where the community had been living for years. It included Via dei Sabbioni (now Via Mazzini), enclosed by gates where it meets Piazza delle Erbe (today’s Trento Trieste) and, on the opposite side, Via Terranuova. Via Gattamarcia (now Via della Vittoria) was also enclosed at the crossroads with Via Ragno; via Vignatagliata likewise where it crosses Via de’ Contrari, and Via San Romano. The densely built-up area included Jewish homes and shops. There were three synagogues – two Italian and one Ashkenazi – all in the same building in Via Mazzini, which is where the community’s offices and facilities still are. A fourth synagogue was in Via Vittoria. The Oratory of Saint Crispin’s, where the forced conversionary sermons were held, was on the square, close to the corner with Via Mazzini, having been transferred from the chapel in the Palazzo Ducale (Duke’s Palace), so that the Jews could be spared the humiliating insults hurled at them by the populace during their walk from the ghetto. Despite their forced isolation, the community’s cultural and social life thrived and welfare & education confraternities and a Rabbinical School were established. Many of the civil limitations were lifted with the arrival of the French (1796), which meant Jews were able to participate in public life. The ghetto was sealed off once again from 1825 to 1848, when the gates were finally removed. However, in 1849 Jews were disenfranchised yet again. Full equality was only achieved with the city’s annexation to the Savoy Kingdom, in 1859. Although some buildings have since been renovated, the area which once was the ghetto is still fully identifiable.

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The Italian Synagogue – Tempio Maggiore

An Italian rite prayer hall has been there since the early 15th century, the longest standing Italian synagogue not to have changed premises. It was privately owned, like all of the city’s synagogues at that time, and was associated with the Sabbioni’s pawn shop. It became public when the wealthy benefactor Samuele Melli (or Mele) purchased the building so that Ferrara’s Jews would have a place to officiate. In his will, dated 1485, Melli bound the gift to its use even after his death, so that it could not be sold, except to transfer it to more suitable premises and ever since then the building has been used as the community’s centre & offices. The Italian Synagogue’s Hall was renovated and expanded several times: it originally occupied but a small section of its current floor space, next to the wall where the entrance is now located, that bears a plaque summarising Melli’s will. The Hall most likely reached its current size in the late 16th century and was renovated to the present state following the Emancipation of Jews between 1865 and 1867, under architect Ippolito Guidetti. The large frescoed ceiling was painted by Francesco Migliari; the tevah was moved in front of the Aron ha Kodesh, with the public seating facing it in parallel rows, according to the most popular layout of the time, that is resembling the majority of Italy’s (Christian) places of worship at the time. Following the 1940s devastation, the synagogue was not restored and was readapted as a multi-use hall. Only a few parts of the imposing Aron have been preserved, reorganised as a single item. On one side there are the lateral compartments of the Aron which belonged to the Scola Spagnola (Spanish rite synagogue). As time went by many other community institutions were set up alongside the Italian rite temple: two synagogues (the German and the Fanese), halls and offices, the historical archive, the rabbinical school and court; some of the furnishings of the latter have been rearranged in the entrance hall of the former Italian synagogue.

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The Fanese Synagogue

A small Italian rite synagogue probably built between the 17th and 18th centuries, for everyday use in addition to the main synagogue. We know that it was still in use until 1943 for commemorations for the deceased, and for weekday services during the winter months. It now acts as a ‘small temple’ and is in use all year round. Along with the other halls in the community’s main building, it was ransacked and destroyed during the Second World War. Once rites resumed, the hall was renovated using 19th century furnishings from the town of Cento’s synagogue, not in use since the 1930s. The seating, tevah and the wooden portal all come from there. However, the marble inlaid Aron (1729) was already in the Fanese synagogue, arranged in a common tripartite layout, two chairs flanking the central compartment which holds the Scrolls of the Law.

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Tours of Ferrara

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Key Jewish Tours

Ferrara is rich with a Jewish history that dates back to the middle ages. Visitors can appreciate the countless landmarks that pay tribute to this heritage firsthand. The Ghetto area has remained intact both in look and layout throughout various restorations and is now a pedestrian area complete with historical markers and boutiques. The area where the Jewish population once lived has never lost the commercial character it had since its inception and remains a pleasant place to meet up, look around, learn, and shop. The Historic Community Building in Ferrara was built as early as 1481 (and possibly earlier) and is another important stop on this Jewish itinerary. It was the site of the city's first synagogue, at 95 Via Mazzini. The building currently houses synagogues, community offices, a prayer room, and a museum which narrates the cycle of life, houses historically significant objects like the keys to the ghetto, as well as sacred objects. Most importantly, the museum tells the story of the community from the establishment of the ghetto, through the French occupation, to the unification of Italy, and celebrates the Jewish contribution to literature. The city's Addizione Erculea Jewish cemetery goes back to the 15th century and is the final resting place for writer Giorgio Bassani.

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מסעדות בסגנון יהודי JEWISH STYLE RESTAURANTS

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Balebuste Ristorante - Osteria

Immersed in the historic center of the Jewish Ghetto, one can dine at the Balebúste Osteria that builds creativity in recipes without forgetting tradition, good wine and a familiar atmosphere

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Elisabetta Gulino

Born 1962 in Caltagirone/Sicily, daughter to a German speaking Swiss mother and a Sicilian father, I spent my childhood and youth mainly in Sicily, South Tyrol, and Switzerland. Very early I got in touch with the fascinating world of foreign languages and tourism. After spending long periods of time abroad – in Switzerland, Germany, Great Britain, Spain and France – for study and work purposes and after getting a University degree in Modern Languages at Verona University, I gained work experience in different industries: foreign trade, manufacturing industry, education, tourism. Music, Photography, Architecture, Crafts, Food & Wine have ever since been among my main interests. I now work in tourism, a very dynamic, exciting and demanding environment, which constantly offers me new challenges and opportunities. Since 1997 I have been working as a freelance official tour guide in Ferrara and its Province, and as an official tour leader since 2000.

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FBCEI - Fondazione Beni Culturali Ebraici in Italia August 4, 2022

The Jewish Story of Ferrara, Italy

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Hotels in Ferrara

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Hotel Nazionale Ferrara

The “Nazionale” hotel, is a typical historic XVth century building, situated in the medieval heart of Ferrara, just few steps away from the magnificent Romanesque XIIth century cathedral and of the Estense Castle, in the heart of the artistic and cultural town centre. Completely refurbished, the hotel has been meticulously and carefully reconstructed and furnished with fine materials and fabrics. As a result, each room is characterized by its strong personality: clean lines and surfaces, warm and elegant colors that blend together to give the feeling of warm and friendly atmosphere. Staying in “Nazionale” Hotel, will make you feel like living in a harmonious environment, enriched with precious details, where history and modernity merge together in one environmental solution, giving the right balance between comfort and design.

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The Pressbook celebrates the one year anniversary of the Jewish Silk Road Portal launch, an amazing example of using Jewish travel as a means of cultural diplomacy, whilst highlighting the significant Jewish contribution to the ancient trade route. Kudos to our participating partners from the Kiriaty Foundation (Turkey), National Board of Tourism of #Georgia, National Board of Tourism of #Uzbekistan, and Israeli Embassy of #India.

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🌍 Celebrating One Year of the Jewish Silk Road Portal

World Jewish Travel was thrilled at #IMTM 2024 to present a copy of the WJT Jewish Silk Road Pressbook to the CEO of the Azerbaijan National Tourism Board Florian Sengstschmid and Jamilya Talibzade its Israeli representative Azerbaijan Tourism Board (ATB).

The Pressbook celebrates the one year anniversary of the Jewish Silk Road Portal launch, an amazing example of using Jewish travel as a means of cultural diplomacy, whilst highlighting the significant Jewish contribution to the ancient trade route. Kudos to our participating partners from the Kiriaty Foundation (Turkey), National Board of Tourism of #Georgia, National Board of Tourism of #Uzbekistan, and Israeli Embassy of #India.

See the overwhelming reaction from the press, by downloading our free pressbook. Special thanks to Moshe Gilad of the @haaretzcom for highlighting this forgotten but important story in the Galeria section of the newspaper and available to download on WJT.

👉Link to WJT Jewsih Silk Rad Pressbook and more is in our bio

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