The Jewish Ghetto in Rome

Located in the hearth of historic city centre, where the blonde Tiber River widens forming the Isola Tiberina, the ancient Rome Jewish Ghetto is one of the best attractions in Rome and also one of its least known. This flourishing district is the oldest Jewish community in Europe, and a “fulcrum” of the history of Rome as well as to the Jewish faith.

Orizzonte Italia will take you to discover the Jewish Ghetto of Rome

Founded in 1555 in the Sant'Angelo district, in the southern part of Campo de 'Fiori, the borders of this historic Capitoline district were established in a Papal Bull along with various discriminatory laws about what professions Jews could and could not hold.

Beautiful and heart-breaking stories are hidden within the walls of these alleys. The Ghetto was built on low, malarial land subject to regular floods from the Tiber River. The neighbourhood witnessed one of the most heart-wrenching episodes of the Nazi occupation during the Second World War. Nazi soldiers entered the neighbourhood on October 16th, 1943 and deported above 2,000 people. Only 16 survived.

Over the years, the area has grown into a beautiful neighbourhood filled with restaurants, churches, and synagogues that combine Jewish culture with the grandeur of Roman architecture. The ruins of the enormous ancient Portico, the Portico d’Ottavia, rise up from under the street level, at once a witness to history as well as the changes time brings. Over the years, the area has become a beautiful neighbourhood full of restaurants, churches and synagogues that combine Jewish culture with the grandeur of Roman architecture. It is just from suffering for the harsh conditions of life imposed on its inhabitants combined with an indestructible brotherhood that the Jewish Ghetto of Rome represents a visit that it should not be missed.

The Jewish Ghetto in Rome is a must for the traveller looking for a genuine experience among the charming alleys, kosher restaurants, the gorgeous Tempio Maggiore, breathing an air of unique humanity, feeling to be in a "city in the city", discovering one of the thousand aspects of Rome.