Roman Ghetto
Roman Ghetto | |
---|---|
Native name Italian: Ghetto di Roma | |
Coordinates | 41°53′33″N 12°28′39″E / 41.8924°N 12.4775°E |
Established | 1555 |
Demolished | 1888 |
Architect | Giovanni Sallustio Peruzzi |
The Roman Ghetto or Ghetto of Rome (
Creation
The Jewish community of Rome is probably the oldest in the world outside of the Middle East, with a continuous existence from classical times down to the present day. The first record of Jews in Rome is in 161 BC, when Jason b. Eleazar and Eupolemus b. Johanan are said to have gone there as envoys from Judah Maccabee.[2]
The Roman Ghetto was established as a result of
The bull also revoked all the rights of the Jewish community and imposed on Jews a variety of new restrictions such as prohibition on property ownership and practising medicine on Christians and compulsory Catholic sermons on the Jewish sabbath.
Jews were not allowed to own any property, even in the ghetto. Christian owners of houses in the ghetto could keep their property but, because of the jus gazzagà (right of possession) they could neither evict the Jews nor raise rents.[Note 1]
Gates were added as the ghetto was successively enlarged.[4] Initially, there were two gates in the wall. The number increased to three in the 16th century and under Sixtus V to five, and finally, during the 19th century to eight. The gates were opened at dawn and closed every night, one hour after sunset between November and Easter, and two hours at other times.[4] The area contained hardly any noteworthy buildings. The only important square — Piazza Giudea[Note 2] — was divided in two parts by the wall. All the churches which stood in the ghetto were deconsecrated and demolished soon after its construction.
In common with many other Italian ghettoes, the ghetto of Rome was not initially so called, but was variously referred to in documents in
Life in the ghetto
Life in the Roman Ghetto was one of crushing poverty, due to the severe restrictions placed upon the occupations that Jews were allowed to perform. Roman Jews were allowed to work only at unskilled jobs, such as ragmen, secondhand dealers[6] or fish mongers. They were permitted to be pawnbrokers (which had been prohibited to Christians); and this activity excited the hatred of many Christians against them.
In the lottery game, they were allowed to bet only on low numbers (from 1 through 30), and all belonging to the same group of 10.[Note 3] In case of a draw of five numbers of that kind, the Romans said that on that day in the ghetto there was taking place a great feast.[7]
When Jews went outside the ghetto, the men had to wear a yellow cloth (the "sciamanno"), and the women a yellow veil (the same color worn by prostitutes).[6] During the feasts they had to amuse the Christians, competing in humiliating games. They had to run naked, with a rope around the neck, or with their legs closed into sacks. Sometimes they were also ridden by soldiers.[Note 4]
Jews had to petition annually for permission to live there. They paid a yearly tax for the privilege. Jews of Rome were required to swear yearly loyalty to the Pope at the
Every Saturday, the Jewish community was forced to hear compulsory sermons
At the time of its construction, in the ghetto – as almost everywhere in Rome – there was no fresh water. However, some years later the Popes built several fountains in the rione. One fountain, designed by Giacomo della Porta, was to be placed in the Piazza Giudea, the site of a market, inside the ghetto, but Muzio Mattei used his influence to have the fountain, the Fontana delle Tartarughe (Turtle Fountain), located in the Piazza Mattei, in front of his residence.[Note 8][8][9] [dubious ]
As the Jewish community inside the ghetto grew, there was severe overcrowding. Since the area could not expand horizontally, the Jews built vertical additions to their houses, which blocked the sun from reaching the already dank and narrow streets.
The great number of people living in such a small area,[Note 9] together with the poverty of the population, caused terrible hygienic conditions. The district, lying very low and near the Tiber, was often flooded, and diseases like cholera and malaria were endemic. During the plague of 1656, 800 of the ghetto's 4,000 inhabitants died. In 1867, just three years before the abolition of the ghetto, there was a cholera epidemic.[4][10] Sant'Angelo, which was the smallest rione by area, also had the highest population density because of the presence of the ghetto.
Abolition
The first great upheaval since Paul IV established the ghetto came during the
During the 19th century it became clear the ghetto was becoming less and less sustainable. On 17 April 1847, a group of young men from
The Papal States ceased to exist on 20 September 1870, when they were combined with the rest of the peninsula into the newly created Kingdom of Italy. With this dramatic change in governments, the requirement that Jews live in the ghetto came to an end. But the centuries of crowds, restrictions, and disease had taken their toll. While the Roman ghetto had once been home to some 10,000 Jews, by 1870 the population was less than half that—and half of those remaining relied on charity to survive. Indeed, the
The Roman Ghetto was the last remaining ghetto in Western Europe until ghettos were reintroduced by Nazi Germany in the 1930s.
Legacy
Due to the three hundred plus years of isolation from the rest of the city, the Jews of the Roman Ghetto developed their own
Today, the district of the former ghetto is the home of the Great Synagogue of Rome. There is one remaining piece of the ghetto wall, which was built into the wall of one of the courtyards off the Piazza delle Cinque Scole. It is described as "one of the Rome's most charming and eclectic neighborhoods, [...with] restaurants serving up some of the best food in the city",
See also
- Raid on the Roman Ghetto by the Germans in 1943
- Sant'Angelo (rione of Rome)
- Jewish ghettos in Europe
- History of the Jews in Italy
- Samuel di Castelnuovo
- Pasticceria Boccione
Notes
- Urban VIII. The same apartment on the free market cost 450 scudi.
- ^ Pietrangeli, 45: On the square were placed the barracks of the gendarmes which controlled the ghetto, and there was practiced the torment of the strappado ("la corda").
- ^ This law was established because, since Jews had the reputation of being sorcerers, the Romans believed that they could win by witchcraft. Otherwise, usually the Italian lottery is played betting on up to five numbers ranging from 1 through 90. Zanazzo, 143.
- ^ These habits were usual also before the erection of the ghetto. For example, Pope Alexander VI was a fan of such competitions. He chose not to pave the new road named Borgo Nuovo, which he opened in 1500 in Borgo, in order to keep a better ground for the runners.
- ^ This tradition was interrupted by Pius IX in 1847. About, 96.
- ^ It is told that many Jews closed their ears with wax in order not to hear the sermon.
- Hebrew and Latin, complaining about the stubbornness of the Jewish people.
- ^ The fountain is now in Via del Progresso.
- Sixtus V, was slightly larger than three Hectares. Pietrangeli, 44.
References
- ^ Lerner, 1.
- ^ "Community of Rome". Beit Hatfutsot Open Databases Project, The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot.
- ^ a b Pietrangeli, 42.
- ^ a b c d e Pietrangeli, 44.
- ^ Debenedetti-Stow, 79–85.
- ^ a b De Rossi, 222.
- ^ Zanazzo, 144.
- ^ The Waters of Rome, Morton (p.73-74)
- ^ Fontaines de Rome, Maurizia Tazartes (p.62)
- ^ OCLC 44727744.
- OCLC 44727744.
- ^ Agresti, page 33
- ^ Pougeois, Histoire de Pie IX, son pontificat et son siecle, Vol I-VI, Paris, 1877. Vol. II, p. 429.
- ^ Pougeois, Vol. III, p. 258
- ^ Lekić 2004, p. 104.
- ^ Lekić 2004, p. 191.
Further references
- ISBN 0-19-826922-6.
Sources
- Baronio, Cesare (1697). Descrizione di Roma moderna (in Italian). M. A. and P. A. De Rossi, Roma.
- About, Edmond(1861). Rome contemporaine (in French). Hetzel, Paris.
- Zanazzo, Giggi (1907–1910). Usi, costumi e pregiudizi del popolo di Roma (in Italian). Torino – Roma.
- Delli, Sergio (1975). Le strade di Roma (in Italian). Newton Compton, Roma.
- Pietrangeli, Carlo (1976). Sant'Angelo. Guide rionali di Roma (in Italian). Fratelli Palombi, Roma.
- Staccioli, Romolo (1988). Roma entro le mura (in Italian). Fratelli Melita Roma.
- Agresti, Olivia Rossetti (1907). Giovanni Costa, his life, work, and times. 2nd edition London: Gay & Bird. (1st: London: Grant Richards, 1904)
- Debenedetti-Stow, Sandra (1992). "The Etymology of "Ghetto": New Evidence from Rome". Jewish History. The Frank Talmage Memorial Volume. 6 (1/2): 79–85. S2CID 159880549. (subscription required).
- Lerner, L. Scott (Winter–Spring 2002). "Narrating Over the Ghetto of Rome". Jewish Social Studies. New Series. 8 (2/3): 1–38. on 2016-03-04.
- Stow, Kenneth R. Theater of Acculturation: The Roman Ghetto in the Sixteenth Century (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2001). ISBN 978-0295980225
- Stow, Kenneth R. Jewish Life in Early Modern Rome: Challenge, Conversion, and Private Life (Aldershot, 2007). ISBN 9780754659167
- Lekić, Vedran (2004). ISBN 1-4050-3329-0.
External links
- Google Map: The ghetto lies north of the Isola Tiberina, the white dome of the temple lies between Via Catalana and the river flanking, Lungotevere de' Cenci.
- October 18: Jews of Rome Deported to Auschwitz
- Liliana Picciotto Fargion. Il Libro della Memoria. Gli Ebrei deportati dall'Italia (1943-1945). Milan: Mursia, 1991 (in Italian)
- Entry in Romeartlover site