It took us a while to find the Jewish ghetto and we weren’t the only ones scanning maps and phones, but after a few dead ends we finally got there. This ghetto is supposedly the oldest of its kind in Europe dating back to the early 1500s when the Pope of the day ordered Venice to expel all Jews from the city. The Venetian government chose not to but instead it locked them on a swampy Venetian island in northern Venice; thus formed the Ghetto Nuovo. That island and a connected island (established later, Ghetto Vecchio), was home to Venetian Jews. Some theories claim that the English word ghetto is derived from the Jewish ghetto in Venice, but there are a number of theories around the origin of the name.
 |
| A dead end in a quiet private garden |
 |
| A hidden garden |
 |
| Edge of the ghetto - it was built on one of the islands |
 |
| You could see where the gate hinges once were attached |
 |
| The central square of the ghetto had a feeling of sombre tranquility |
Behind the door on the left is a synagogue. When we were leaving there was a 'service' of some sort going on. Before that, young Jewish residents were approaching visitors to invite them to the synagogue (I imagine they needed to be Jewish). There are 5 synagogues in the ghetto, all hidden unsurprisingly.
 |
| WWII Memorial wall |
An armed guard kept watch over the courtyard. The barbed wire atop this wall was rather chilling. 7 plagues depict the horrors on the WWII camps.
 |
| Ponte de Ghetto Vechio |
 |
| all seemed dark, sombre and hidden - for good reason |
 |
| More passionfruit obviously a different variety to ours |
 |
| Wonderful to escape to the tranquility outside the ghetto canals |
After wandering the ghetto area, we were thoroughly pooped and not a little heat-struck so we found a place for yet another cold drink - we’ve never drunk so much beer/Aperol Spritz in our lives. Our energy was at a pretty low ebb so rather than walk back to our hotel, heaven knows how far away, we tackled the water-bus system and then collapsed with yet another cold drink or two. Later we ventured out to our local bar for ‘dinner’. So lovely, no tourists just locals. Good local wine, bread and olive oil followed by tagliatelle with pistachio cream and bacon. Delicious. We were stuffed but our host insisted on us trying their limoncello. It was delicious.
Not far from our ‘bus stop’ this friar boarded pushing a trolley piled high with polystyrene boxes - seafood?? Life is intriguing here.
No comments:
Post a Comment