Cannaregio

by Philip Greenspun

Home : Travel : Italy : Cannaregio

There are plenty of tourists in Cannaregio, but in many ways this part of the city has been relatively unaffected by tourism. There are a lot of peaceful out-of-the-way spots in Cannaregio.

The Ghetto

A plague in the Venetian ghetto exhorting passersby to remember the Holocaust "Ghetto" means "foundry" in Venetian and it was here that the word obtained its modern meaning. In 1516, the Jews of Venice were confined in this area by the Council of Ten. Unlike other European cities, the Venetians did not have to build walls to keep their Jews locked up; the area was already an island so they just posted guards on the bridges. Jews were allowed out of the ghetto during the day to practice their three legal occupations: textile trading, medicine, and banking.

Very confusingly, the "new Ghetto" was the first part of the Jewish settlement. When the population swelled with Jews expelled from other countries, the adjacent "old Ghetto" was occupied as well ("new" and "old" refer to the foundries that were there centuries before). Napoleon emancipated the Jews in 1797 but the Austrians pushed them back into the ghetto and they weren't about to get out until 1866, when Venice joined Italy.

The peak of the ghetto's population was about 5,000. By World War II, the population had fallen to about 1,300. The Germans killed 200, who are remembered with a couple of nicely kept Holocaust memorials, and today perhaps as few as 300 remain. That the community is dying is evident from the synagogue tour. A new woman's section was added to the ground floor of the Spanish synagogue; it seems that the average woman in the congregation is too old to manage the stairs up to the original women's gallery.

Detail of the Holocaust Memorial in Venice's ghetto The Holocaust Memorial in Venice's ghetto The names and ages of Venetian Jews killed by the Germans Reliefs in the Venetian ghetto depicting scenes from the Holocaust

I've visited the ghetto twice, once in September and once in January. In both times, the main campo seemed rather deserted and depressing. I asked Susanna, one of the tour guides, whether it was a desirable place to live for modern Venetians. "Oh yes," she replied. "It is close to the train station, so that makes it a good place to be. Tourists want to be close to San Marco, but we like to be close to the mainland."

All of the Venetian Jews that I met seem to spend a lot of their time in Israel or New York.

The Lubavitcher Hassidim's storefront in the Venetian ghetto The old Venetian ghetto, where Jews were locked in from 1516 until 1866, lies in a quiet area of Cannaregio A shop in the Venetian ghetto A bridge leading between old and new parts of the Jewish ghetto in Venice. Note that the additions were made in 1541 and 1633, hence Kids playing soccer in the Venetian ghetto. Only a handful of Jews live in Venice and very few live in the old ghetto region. Kids playing soccer in the Venetian ghetto. Only a handful of Jews live in Venice and very few live in the old ghetto region. A young girl studies Hebrew in the Venetian ghetto. A young girl takes a break from studying Hebrew in the Venetian ghetto.

Santa Maria dei Miracoli

Built in 1489 by Pietro Lombardo, this church is now a favorite spot for Venetian marriages. The place is lined inside and out with beautiful pieces of marble. Originally, the church was built to hold a painting (Virgin and Child (1408)) with miraculous powers.

philg@mit.edu