Roman Ghetto

[[File:ViaRuaInGhettoByRoeslerFranz.jpg|thumb|300px|''Via Rua in Ghetto'', (rione Sant'Angelo), by [[Ettore Roesler Franz]] (ca 1880 ). ]] The '''Roman (Jewish) Ghetto''' ({{lang-it|Ghetto di Roma}}) was a [[Jewish ghettos in Europe|ghetto]] located in the [[Sant'Angelo (rione of Rome)|rione Sant'Angelo]], in [[Rome]], [[Italy]], in the area surrounded by today's ''Via del [[Portico d'Ottavia]]'', ''Lungotevere dei Cenci'', ''Via del Progresso'' and ''Via di Santa Maria del Pianto'' close to the [[Tiber]] and the [[Theater of Marcellus]]. In Italian, the ghetto was called "''Serraglio delli Ebrei''" ("Enclosure of the Jews"). The Roman Ghetto was established as a result of [[Papal bull]] ''[[Cum nimis absurdum]]'', promulgated by [[Pope Paul IV]] on 14 July [[1555]]. The bull also required the Jews of Rome, which had existed as a community since before Christian times and which numbered about 2,000 at the time, to live in the ghetto. The ghetto was a walled quarter with three gates that were locked at night. The wall was built under the direction of the architect [[Giovanni Sallustio Peruzzi]]. The money for its construction – 300 [[Italian scudo|scudi]] – had to be paid by the Jewish community. The area of Rome chosen for the ghetto was the most undesirable quarter of the city, subject to constant flooding by the [[Tiber|Tiber River]]. At the time of its founding, the four-block area was expected to contain roughly 1,000 inhabitants. 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 ''[[shabbat]]''. However, the ghetto was welcomed by some Jews who thought that its walls would protect the small Jewish community from possible attacks by Christian mobs and from the drain which must follow from assimilation, at the same time enabling Jewish religious customs to be observed without interference.^{[{{fullurl:{{FULLPAGENAME}}}}#endnote_HISTPOPE]} 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. Initially, there were two gates in the wall, but the number increased to three in the 16th century, and under [[Sixtus V]] to five, and finally, during the 19th century to eight. The additional gates came about as the ghetto was successively enlarged. The gates were opened at dawn and closed every night, one hour after sunset between November and Easter, and two hours at other times. The area had a trapezoidal shape, and contained hardly any noteworthy buildings. The only important square – Piazza Giudea – was divided in two parts by the wall. All the churches which stood in the ghetto were deconsecrated and demolished soon after its construction. ==Life in the ghetto== [[Image:ArcoDelleAzimelleInGhettoByRoeslerFranz.jpg|thumb|right|Disappeared Ghetto: ''Arco delle Azimelle'' in a watercolour by [[Ettore Roesler Franz]] (1880 ca.). The ''Azimelle'' are Jewish unleavened breads, which were produced in a bakery in this lane.]] 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 or fish mongers. They were permitted to be [[pawnbroker]]s (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. 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. 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). (see [[yellow badge]]) 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. 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 [[Arch of Titus]], which celebrates the Roman [[Siege of Jerusalem (70)|sack of Jerusalem]] of 70 CE. Each year, on the [[Campidoglio]], the [[Rabbi]] had to pay homage to the chief of the city counsellors ("Caporione"), receiving by him in exchange for it a kick to his bottom. This "ceremony" meant that the Jewish community had been allowed to stay one more year in Rome. Every Saturday, the Jewish community was forced to hear compulsory sermons in front of the small church of ''San Gregorio a Ponte Quattro Capi'', just outside the wall. 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, called [[Fontana delle Tartarughe]] (Turtle Fountain) located in the Piazza Mattei, in front of his residence. 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. Of course, the great number of people living in such a small area, together with the poverty of the population, caused terrible hygienic conditions. The district, lying very low and near the Tiber, was often flooded. During the [[Bubonic plague|plague]] of 1656, 800 of 4,000 inhabitants died because of the epidemic. Sant'Angelo, which was the rione with the smallest area, was also, because of the presence of the Ghetto, the one having the largest population density. ==Abolition== [[Image:Sack of jerusalem.JPG|thumb|left|Detail from the Arch of Titus showing spoils from the Sack of Jerusalem]] When the [[Roman Republic (18th century)|Roman Republic]] was formed in 1798 and took over the [[Papal States]], it annulled the requirement for Jews to live only in the ghetto; and a [[Tree of Liberty]] was planted in Piazza delle Scuole. However, when the Papal States were restored in 1799, the ghetto was reestablished and Jews who had left were compelled to return to the ghetto. In [[1848]], at the beginning of his pontificate, [[Pius IX]] permitted Jews to live outside the ghetto. However, after returning from exile in 1850, following the crushing of the [[Roman Republic (19th century)|Roman Republic]], which made strong anti-Church measures, the Pope issued a series of anti-liberal measures, including re-instituting the ghetto. The Jewish head tax was abolished in [[1850]]. The Papal States ceased to exist on 20 September 1870 when they were incorporated in the Kingdom of Italy, but the requirement that Jews live in the ghetto was only formally abolished in [[1882]]. The ghetto walls were torn down in [[1888]] and the ghetto was almost completely demolished, and the area around the new [[Synagogue of Rome]] was reconstructed. The Roman Ghetto was the last remaining [[ghetto]] in Western Europe until they 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 [[dialect]], known as [[Italkian|Giudeo-romanesco]], which differs from the dialect of the rest of the city in its preservation of 16th-century dialectical forms and its liberal use of romanized [[Hebrew language|Hebrew]] words. ==The district today== Today, the district of the former Ghetto is the home of the Synagogue of Rome. 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",^{[{{fullurl:{{FULLPAGENAME}}}}#endnote_LETSGO]} like the Jewish specialty of fried [[artichoke]]s ("Carciofi alla giudìa"). 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 Scuole. ==See also== *[[Sant'Angelo (rione of Rome)]] *[[Jewish ghettos in Europe]] *[[History of the Jews in Italy]] ==Further references== # {{note|HISTPOPE}} {{cite book | first = Owen | last = Chadwick | authorlink = Owen Chadwick | year = 1998 | title = A History of the Popes 1830-1914 | pages = 128–129 | publisher = Oxford University Press | isbn = 0-19-826922-6 }} # {{note|LETSGO}} ''Rome: A [[Let's Go City Guide]]'', Matthew W. Mahan (editor), Macmillan, [[Cambridge, MA]], 2004. ISBN 1-4050-3329-0, page 104. ==External links== {{Commons|Ghetto (Roma)}} *[http://maps.google.com/maps?q=rome,+italy&hl=en&t=h&ie=UTF8&ll=41.892215,12.478033&spn=0.003658,0.0106&om=1 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.] *[http://www1.yadvashem.org/about_holocaust/chronology/1942-1945/1943/chronology_1943_30.html October 18: Jews of Rome Deported to Auschwitz] *[http://www.library.wisc.edu/libraries/dpf/Fascism/Images/FRY63.html Liliana Picciotto Fargion. Il Libro della Memoria. Gli Ebrei deportati dall'Italia (1943-1945). Milan: Mursia, 1991 (in Italian)] *[http://members.tripod.com/romeartlover/Vasi29.html Entry in Romeartlover site] {{Rome landmarks}} {{coord missing|Italy}}