{"id":1428,"date":"2025-04-11T10:55:28","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T10:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/venedig.com\/?page_id=1428"},"modified":"2026-01-10T06:57:37","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T06:57:37","slug":"the-ghetto-neighborhood-in-venice","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/venedig.com\/en\/das-stadtviertel-ghetto-in-venedig\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ghetto District in Venice"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The plan is from\u00a0https:\/\/www.OpenStreetMap.org<\/a> \u00a9 OpenStreetMap contributors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word \u201eghetto\u201c is widely known, but many people don\u2019t realize that it originated in Venice. The world\u2019s oldest ghetto is still located there today on an island. However, it remains unclear exactly where the term \u201cghetto\u201d or \u201cgetto\u201d comes from. It is believed to have evolved from the Italian word \u201cgeto\u201d (meaning \u201cfoundry\u201d), as many iron foundry workers lived in that neighborhood at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Ghetto Neighborhood Through the Ages<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Even before the Gheto Novo was established, Jews lived scattered throughout Italy and Venice. In the
In the 14th century, Venice was in the midst of an economic crisis\u2014wars and plague epidemics had led to mismanagement and heavy spending by the city. This gave rise to the idea of bringing in Jewish moneylenders to inject money and vitality into the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, as the economic situation in Venice stabilized, tensions between the various cultural groups once again began to shape everyday life. In 1515, it was therefore decided that Jews would be allowed to settle in a specific neighborhood, the Gheto novo, which was located on the site of a disused foundry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At night, the quarter was closed off with gates, and guards patrolled the entrance. Only people of the utmost importance, such as doctors, were allowed to leave at night. In 1541, the area was expanded to include the Ghetto Vecchio. It wasn\u2019t long before this quarter, too, became too cramped, and in 1633, the Ghetto Novissimo was added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, houses and palaces for the upper class were built there; in general, the Jewish population at that time enjoyed almost all the same freedoms as the other citizens of Venice. In the years that followed, economic and political tensions flared up again; the financial system suffered enormously, and with it the Jewish population\u2014many of whom ended up in abject poverty as a result of the repression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The gates of the ghetto fell in 1797 during Napoleon\u2019s conquest of Venice; he burned them down and restored more rights to the Jewish population. In 1848, all citizens of Venice were granted equal rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Ghetto Today<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The history of the neighborhood has not been lost to this day. Reminders of times past can be found everywhere in the Ghetto district. The Museo Comunit\u00e0 Ebraica is dedicated to the rich history and traditions of the Jewish community over the past few centuries. Five magnificent synagogues dating back to the Middle Ages are tucked away in the Ghetto district and are open to the public for guided tours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The old cemetery, too Lido <\/a>is open to the public. Like many other buildings in the neighborhood, it has been restored in recent years and saved from decay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Venice\u2019s Ghetto district is still shaped by Jewish life and culture today, even though the community, with about 500 members, is noticeably smaller than it used to be. There is a bakery that makes the popular matzo, as well as a kosher butcher and a Jewish retirement home. Two of the old synagogues, the Scuola Spagnola and the Scuola Levantina, are used alternately by the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Das Wort Ghetto ist allgemein bekannt, doch dass es aus Venedig stammt, wissen viele nicht. Dort befindet sich auf einer Insel gelegen noch heute das \u00e4lteste Ghetto der Welt. Ungekl\u00e4rt ist jedoch, woher genau der Ausdruck Ghetto oder Getto sich ableitet. Man vermutet, dass er sich aus dem italienischen Wort „geto“ (dt. Gie\u00dferei) entwickelte, in … Read more<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1428","page","type-page","status-publish"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/venedig.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/venedig.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/venedig.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venedig.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/venedig.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1428"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/venedig.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1428\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5864,"href":"https:\/\/venedig.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1428\/revisions\/5864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/venedig.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}