Jewish Venice

Discover the history of Jewish Venice by starting in San Marco, meandering by the Rialto Bridge and ending in the Jewish Ghetto with an expert guide.

HIGHLIGHTS:

  • Start at Piazza San Marco, where the main decisions about foreign communities in the city were made
  • In front of the Doge’s Palace, learn about the Venetian government’s attitude towards the Papacy on one hand and Jews on the other
  • Continue to the Rialto Market area, and learn more about the economic history of the Jews in Venice
  • Cross the Grand Canal on a traghetto, a gondola ferry, to Cannaregio
  • Visit the three areas of the Ghetto: Ghetto Nuovo, Ghetto Vecchio, and Ghetto Novissimo
  • Take a look inside the small, well-curated Jewish Museum located in the Ghetto (optional)

Description

Tour Jewish Venice

On this fascinating tour of Jewish Venice, you’ll learn the history of the Jewish community since its beginnings in Venice during the second half of the 14th century. Your walk begins in the Piazza San Marco, the seat of Venice’s government where political decisions about the Jews and other foreign communities were made. Your guide will then lead you to the Rialto Market area, which for centuries has been an important center for commerce and banking. Here, following the fictional footsteps of Shakespeare’s Shylock, you’ll learn about the economic history of the Jews of Venice and the rest of Europe. After crossing the Grand Canal on a gondola ferry, you’ll pay a visit to the Jewish Ghetto, established in 1516 when Venice’s government forced the city’s Jews to move to the area. During your visit, you’ll retrace the community’s history and learn why the Ghetto is still a center of Jewish life in Venice today.