The ancient Jewish ghetto in Venice is in the Cannaregio district, one of the most authentic Venetian areas in the city, and yet quite unknown to tourists.

Important historical and artistic memories of the past will be seen in this tour which starts from the ancient financial heart of the city, Rialto, where for a while Jewish moneylenders would live together with other foreign communities.

We continue with the Jesuits’ campo, its church where an important canvas by Titian is preserved as well as the small precious oratory of the Crociferi. From there we move to the scuola of the Misericordia and then we walk along the fondamenta to reach the beautiful church of the Madonna dell’Orto: here we can stop to admire the much celebrated works by Tintoretto.

In this multicultural and multiethnic context, not too far from the campo dei Mori, but away from the centre of power, the Jewish ghetto was born in 1516. We will try to understand what distinguished this area from all other Jewish quarters in Europe at that time as well as learn the history of the Venetian Jewish community till nowadays. We will also visit the ancient synagogues whose origins date back to the 16th century.