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The Venetian Ghetto was the world’s first Jewish ghetto. It’s located in the district (sestiere) of Cannaregio in the UNESCO World Heritage city of Venice, Italy.
History of the Venetian Ghetto
On March 29, 1516, Doge Leonardo Loredan (1436-1521) and the Venetian Senate declared that all Jews had to live in an area where the city’s foundries had once been located. The area, known as “giotto” or “geto” in the Venetian dialect, was separated from the rest of Venice and Jews had to wear a sign of identification. It was closed every night at sunset and didn’t open until sunrise the next day. Patrol boats would surround the canals to prevent anyone from leaving. On July 11, 1797, shortly after the Fall of the Republic of Venice, Napoleon abolished the Ghetto and ended Jewish segregation from the rest of the city.
There were roughly 700 Jews in Venice at the time the Ghetto was established. However, in 1541, the Ghetto Vecchio was created to accommodate an increase in Jewish migrants, followed by the Ghetto Novissimo in 1633. The community grew to 5,000 in the early 17th century.
In 1931, there were a recorded 1,814 members of the Jewish community of Venice. By 1938, when fascist laws came into effect, the population had dwindled to about 1,200. After the arrival of Nazi troops on September 8, 1943, the situation deteriorated further. Between December 5, 1943 and the summer of 1944, around 150 Jews were rounded up, sent to concentration camps, and subsequently murdered. By the end of 1945, the number of Jews in Venice had dropped to around 1,050. Today, there are fewer than 500 members of the Jewish community remaining, and the Ghetto remains the center of Jewish life in the city.
Guided Tours of the Venetian Ghetto
The tour of the Venetian Ghetto, run by the Jewish Museum, was one of the most captivating tours we took in Venice. We not only visited some beautiful synagogues, but we were also given an in-depth look at life in the Ghetto and learned a lot about the Jewish community of Venice. Overall, we felt the tour was excellent.
The tour covers the historic buildings of the Ghetto. It’s conducted in English hourly from 10am to 5pm, Sunday through Friday. Tickets are €15 for adults, €13 for kids over 6 and students up to 26, a free for kids under 6 (as of April 2025), and include admission to the museum. Our tour lasted about 40 minutes and took us to three of the five historic synagogues. Current tour information can be found on the official Venetian Ghetto website.
There are an also a few different options for private guided tours. A 60-minute tour to two requested synagogues, the Secret Garden, and a Midrash, costs €100 per group plus €17 per person. A 90-minute tour to three requested synagogues, the Secret Garden, and a Midrash, costs €150 per group plus €17 per person. Finally, a guided tour of the Jewish cemetery on the Lido is €200 per group plus €17 per person. All prices are current as of April 2025.
Bridges to the Venetian Ghetto
The entrance to the Ghetto is via two bridges that lead to the Campo di Ghetto Novo. The main bridge is the Ponte de Ghetto Novo, which is on the north side. The other bridge, on the east side, leads to the Sottoportego di Ghetto Novo, which is a corridor underneath a building.
Campo di Ghetto Novo
Campo di Ghetto Novo is the main square of the Venetian Ghetto. It’s a large open space surrounded by buildings that are unusually tall for Venice. There are a few art galleries, a restaurant, and shops as well as some synagogues. Wells in the center were used to gather water.
Banco Rosso
Starting from the Ponte de Ghetto Novo and moving clockwise around the square is the Banco Rosso, which was the oldest of the Jewish pawn shops in the Ghetto. Jews were the only citizens allowed to run pawnshops, lend money, and sell secondhand clothing under the Republic of Venice. It sits under an arched portico.
Great German Synagogue
The Great German Synagogue (Scola Grande Tedesca) is the oldest synagogue in the Venetian Ghetto, founded in 1528 by Ashkenazi Jews from Germany. It was renovated between 1732 and 1733 and again in the 19th century, and closed to worship in October 1917. The synagogue is hard to spot from the exterior, except for the Hebrew lettering at the top of the building. It’s accessed through the Jewish Museum and was the first stop on our guided tour of the Venetian Ghetto.
The interior of the Great German Synagogue is trapezoidal in shape. Around the lower walls is a continuous bench backed by cherry wood paneling with a stucco panel above. A red frieze with the text of the Ten Commandments runs around the entire perimeter at the top of the walls.
The bimah used to sit in the center but it was moved in 1860 and now sits opposite the ark. When it was moved, it resulted in the permanent closure of three of the five windows from the inside.
Jewish Museum
On the southwest corner is the Jewish Museum (Museo Ebraico), which was founded in 1953 to tell the story of the Jewish community of Venice. The museum does an excellent job of this, with captivating exhibits and interesting items on display. Admission to the museum is €12 for adults, €10 for kids over 6 and students up to age 26, and free for kids under 6 (as of April 2025). It’s open from Sunday to Friday.
Canton Synagogue
The Canton Synagogue (Scola Canton) sits on the southern corner of the Campo di Ghetto Novo and is attached the museum. It’s an Ashkenazi synagogue built in 1532, either by French Jews from Provence or a prominent family for private use. The synagogue was restored several times in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, and was closed to worship in October 1917. Only the wooden dome of the bimah on the third floor is visible from the exterior. The ground floor housed a coffin warehouse while the second floor was a Talmud Torah school.
The Canton Synagogue measures 12.9 × 7.1 × 12.7 × 6.5 meters (42 × 23 × 42 × 21 feet). It’s considered unique in Europe because it contains eight wooden panels with bas-reliefs depicting events from the Book of Exodus. The ark was carved and gilded in 1672. The bimah dates back to 1780 while the dome above it was built around 1730. The interior was gilded and walnut benches were placed along the longer walls in 1789.
Italian Synagogue
The Italian Synagogue (Scola Italiana) is on the west side of Campo di Ghetto Novo. It was built in 1566 and remodeled 1575 by Jews from central Italy, who were the poorest Jewish community in Venice. It’s the smallest and simplest of the five synagogues in the Venetian Ghetto. It features cherry wood benches along the walls and a 19th century ark. The Italian Synagogue was restored in 1970 and again in 2023. It was closed to visitors during our tour.
Jewish Rest Home
On the north side of the square is the Jewish Rest Home (Casa Israelitica di Riposo), which was founded in 1890. During Nazi and fascist persecution, the Jews deported to concentration camps left from this building. Today, it functions as Rimon Place, the only Kosher hotel in the city.
Holocaust Memorials by Arbit Blatas
On the wall to the left of the Jewish Rest Home is a Holocaust memorial by Arbit Blatas (1908-1999). It consists of seven bronze bas-relief plaques depicting scenes from the Holocaust. it was installed on April 25, 1980, and symbolic strand of barbed wire sits atop the wall.
On the wall to the right of the Jewish Rest Home is The Last Train, which was inaugurated in 1993. A bronze panel memorializes the 50th anniversary of the deportation of Jews from the Venetian Ghetto, depicting them boarding railroad cars. Behind it are planks of wood containing the name and age of each Jew deported from Venice. Only 7 of the 246 would return.
Plaques
In addition to the memorials, you’ll also find plaques embedded in the pavement, placed in front of buildings from which Jews were deported. They indicate the date and details of each deportation.
Ghetto Vecchio
The Venetian Ghetto was divided into two sections. The Ghetto Novo (New Ghetto) is linked to the Ghetto Vecchio (Old Ghetto) by the Ponte de Ghetto Vecchio. It was once occupied by a copper foundry and was granted to Levantine Jews in 1541. Despite the names, the Ghetto Novo is actually older than the Ghetto Vecchio.
Calle del Ghetto Vecchio is the main street through the Ghetto Vecchio. It was lined with shops and features two Sephardic synagogues at the halfway point.
Spanish Synagogue
The Spanish Synagogue (Scola Spagnola) was founded in 1581 by Sephardic Jews expelled from Spain and Portugal in 1492, finally reaching Venice in the 1550s. It’s the largest synagogue in the city and was probably restored by Baldassare Longhena (1598-1682) in 1635. It’s open for worship in the spring and summer.
The Spanish Synagogue is accessible via a staircase built in 1894. It has a brightly lit interior thanks to several large windows and three large chandeliers. The ark features marble columns, and an organ was installed in the bimah in the late 19th century.
Levantine Synagogue
Across from the Spanish Synagogue is the Levantine Synagogue (Scola Levantina). It was built between 1538 and 1561 by Ottoman Jews from Turkey and Greece as the first Sephardic synagogue in Venice. As was the case with the Spanish Synagogue, the building was probably restored by Longhena in the 17th century. It was also restored between 1976 and 1981. The bimah was likely designed by Andrea Brustolon (1660-1732) while the ark was built in 1782. The Levantine Synagogue is in use during the autumn and winter when the Spanish Synagogue is closed.
Ghetto Novissimo
The Ghetto Novissimo, created in 1633, consisted of three blocks of houses without shops or synagogues. It was the smallest of the three ghettos and accommodated mostly Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal.
