JEWISH ROME

The tour duration varies, depending from the chosen route. Groups are require to book the tour at least a week in advance.

The tour is divided into two different visits: 

According to the tradition, the town was founded in the IV century by Ancus Marcius, the 4th king of Rome.

Ostia antica, situated on the Tiber outfall (from latin "ostium", outfall) served for many century as the port of Rome, where ships, loaded of merchandise and foodstuff from the whole empire and destinate to the Capital, anchored .

The excavations started in 1854: much later, in 1960-62, the most ancient synagogue in Europe, dated around 1 century B.C., was rediscovered during works for the roads network amplification, close to Fiumicino Airport,.

The Ghetto - Trastevere

The visit to the Rome Ghetto is a 3 hours visit and comprises the historic-territorial approach of the Trastevere quarter, the first Jewish settlement in Rome.

Groups are required to book the entrance to the Museum, at least a week in advance.

The entrance to the Jewish Museum includes also a guided visit to two Synagogues: the Italian and the Sephardi.

Departure at 9.00 am or in the afternoon at 2.30 pm; entrances to be paid separately.

From the 1st to the 4th century, 15,000 inhabitants out of a population of 1 million, were Jewish. The Jewish population was settled out of the Tiber belt.

The Trastevere quarter (from trans Tiberis, on the other side of the Tiber) was the location where most of the Roman Jews and the oriental immigrants chose to settle. The quarter still hosts a middle age Synagogue, apparently residence of Rabbi Nathan ben Jechiel (1035-1106), famous lexicographer, who wrote the dictionary of the Talmud terms, called Sefer Aruch.

The Ghetto was established in 1555 under Pope Paul IV Carafa and demolished in 1870 after the Unification of Italy.

This phase is denominated,within the Jewish community, "emancipation".

The quarter, which today is erroneously called Ghetto, was originally called Sant'Angelo in Pescheria, quarter of which the Ghetto constituted only a small part.

The denomination "Ghetto" derives from a venetian word "getto" (pouring), since the first Ghetto established in Venice, was located close to a foundry, where the melted metal was poured.