Ghetto Degli Ebrei

There are no indications, but it is a beautiful historical place with its history

An enchanting place to visit, its walls seem to be those of a normal historic center but are full of stories

There is no indication of where it is exactly, but entering through the clock tower and entering the streets - each time smaller - one discovers in the decadent sometimes, sometimes not (because the synagogue area is very beautiful), which It was the area where the Jews lived. In Puglia, the Jews extended during the Norman-Swabian period. The rich communities were in Lecce, Brindisi and Oria. It seems that in Manduria it appears at the end of the 12th century, where many Jews found refuge after the persecution of Pope Innocent III. According to local priest and historian Leonardo Tarentini, the Jewish quarter "existed here from the thirteenth to the seventeenth century." It should not be believed that the ghetto, with three entrances marked with three arches, was isolated from the rest of Manduria; in fact the Jews, although they constituted a separate community, lived in an area very close to the Matrice church, which was later known as Giudecca. Although the Giudecca should not be confused with the ghetto. It was always characterized by the spontaneous aggregation of Jewish houses around the synagogue, the beating heart of the community. The Jews of Manduria experienced a first strong shock at the end of the thirteenth century when Charles II of Anjou managed to isolate the Jewish communities, allowing newly arrived Christians, significant tax exemptions. 34 members of the community passed in 1294 to the Catholic religion. But it was with the pragmatic expulsion of November 1510 that he received a blow. Later, the Jewish quarter was isolated from the rest of the city: doors were built that closed the neighborhood isolating it from the rest. They closed the doors at night and only opened the next morning.

Without directions it is hard to understand something ... they seem normal streets of a historic center, however ancient ... and instead who knows what history it has hidden in itself ... but there was no one to turn to. .. great pity

Easy to reach, welcoming and well served.

Too bad really little valued, I was hoping to find a place with a historical collection but nothing ... More could be done

Beautiful place very impressive I highly recommend to visit