The name Tuscany evokes beauty – rolling hills, vineyards, medieval and Renaissance villages, towns and cities, as well as exquisite art and architecture. We spent 12 days exploring this remarkable region, which included visits to the towns of Ferrara and Cinque Terre.
Our first base was Florence, where we spent a week, including a day trip to Cinque Terre, a marvelous group of five towns (hence the name) on Italy’s Ligurian coast. We joined an organized group tour that included Pisa. The towns are extremely photogenic, with their steep cliffs, multi-colored houses, and breathtaking views of the sea. The towns are not accessible by car – you have to travel between them by train or on foot.
In Pisa, the famous Leaning Tower truly leans. Its tilt is caused by unstable ground since its 11th-century construction. What surprised us was the sheer beauty of the tower – an absolute confection of white marble.
The Leaning Tower stands in a complex called Campo dei Miracoli (“field of miracles”), which includes a large basilica in polychrome marble and a baptistry. Adjoining this is a monumental Christian cemetery and a small Jewish graveyard. We were able to see the Jewish tombstones through a gate that bordered the Campo. Pisa also has a synagogue, which one can visit by prior arrangement.
Florence is known worldwide for its architecture and art; the entire city is an open-air museum. People speak of Florence Syndrome: the frustration that comes from the inability to see everything the city has to offer. We visited the Uffizi Galleries (home of Botticelli’s painting Primavera and thousands of other famous works), L’Accademia (with Michelangelo’s statue David), the Bargello, and Palazzo Pitti, as well as the Medici Tombs.
We also went to the newly reopened Vasari Corridor, part of the Uffizi Galleries, where we had a stunning view of the famed Ponte Vecchio bridge and the Arno River. I expected great art, but the corridor’s works were not yet on display – just shrouded busts awaiting installation. The famed Boboli Gardens are nearby.
Jewish community in Florence
The Florence Synagogue, completed in 1882, graces the skyline with its copper dome and Moorish turrets. Inside, jewel-toned Art Nouveau patterns create a stunning interior. On Shabbat morning, Rabbi Gad Piperno spoke movingly about Israel’s situation (shortly after Israel’s June attack on Iran), and fervent prayers were said for the hostages, IDF soldiers, and the State of Israel.
Services are Sephardi in rite but distinctly Italian in melody and atmosphere. Security is tight, as [in all Jewish sites] throughout Italy. Entry to the synagogue requires prior notice, security checks, and the shul is guarded by uniformed soldiers. During the week, there is only a morning minyan on Thursdays.
The Florentine Jewish community is very acculturated, as are most Italian Jews. They have deep roots in the country and feel very much at home. Nevertheless, they have an intense sense of belonging to the Jewish people, a strong connection to Israel, and a profound respect for Jewish tradition and a commitment to being a distinct community.
While the Florence Synagogue is Orthodox, much of the congregation is not strictly halachicly observant. In a conversation with the rabbi, I noted that it must be a challenge to be the spiritual leader of such a diverse community. He was in complete agreement.
A local cab driver told me that he grew up near the synagogue and attended public school with some Jewish boys. His class did not attend school on Saturdays. To allow the Jewish students to respect Shabbat, the school day was extended on other days of the week. This sort of easy tolerance and respect seems characteristic of Italian society.
But reminders of the fragile nature of Jewish existence in the Diaspora were everywhere. We saw Stolpersteine – brass markers that indicate where Florentine Jews had been arrested and deported by the Nazis. To attend religious services, it is necessary to write ahead of time and go through security before entering the synagogue complex.
Florence has two kosher restaurants: Ruth’s (dairy/vegetarian) and BaGhetto (meat). Ruth’s is cozy, with tasty, well-prepared dishes. BaGhetto serves Roman Jewish specialties such as kosher spaghetti carbonara, and carciofi alla giudia (Jewish-style fried artichokes). We were there on a weeknight, and the food was excellent; the Friday evening Shabbat meal was quite good as well.
Chabad also provides Shabbat meals. The local Carrefour supermarket has a kosher section with wine, meat, cheeses, and bread, all with visible rabbinic certification.
Visiting Ferrara
We took a day trip by train to Ferrara, a city with a rich Jewish history, located in the Emilia-Romagna region. While there is evidence of a Jewish presence there as early as the 13th century, Jewish settlement intensified during the Renaissance, particularly in the 14th and 15th centuries, under the rule of the ducal House of Este, progressive leaders who wanted to develop the city.
The Jewish community made a significant contribution to the city’s golden age both economically and culturally. The year 1598 saw the end of the rule of the Este dynasty and the subsequent rule of the church over the city. Jews were compelled to move into the ghetto in 1627, a situation that lasted until 1861, when Italy was united and its Jews were granted equal rights.
The chief sites in the former ghetto are the synagogue complex (95 Via Mazzini), the building that housed the Jewish school, and the square (piazzetta) named for Rabbi Isaac Lampronti (1679-1756), author of Pahad Yitzhak, an encyclopedia of Halacha. The piazzetta was named in modern times, a mark of Ferrara’s commitment to preserve its Jewish history.
The synagogue complex houses three synagogues, since it was prohibited to build independent buildings for Jewish worship. Our knowledgeable and interesting guide, Rita Neri (rita.neri70@hotmail.it), showed us the room that contains the holy ark of the Sephardi synagogue, designated for the Jews who were expelled from Spain, the Italian-rite synagogue, and the Ashkenazi synagogue.
The original Sephardi synagogue was destroyed during World War II. We saw where the Shavuot services had been held in a lovely room graced by an antique Torah ark. The space could accommodate some 40 worshipers.
Recent renovations revealed that there was once a women’s gallery in an adjoining space. Today, a lattice partition is set up, since there are far fewer people attending prayers in Ferrara. We were also privileged to see some exquisite silver ritual objects that were being cleaned and photographed.
While touring the former ghetto, we met the venerable chief rabbi of Ferrara, Rabbi Luciano Meir Caro, described as “a man of dialogue and loved by all.” He spoke with us in fluent Hebrew and was very happy to meet visitors from Israel. Our guide expressed concern about the future of the congregation when Rabbi Caro retires.
We saw the building of Ferrara’s Jewish school, long empty of students. It was the last stop before the deportation of Ferrara’s Jews in the Holocaust. It was portrayed as such in Giorgio Bassani’s monumental novel The Garden of the Finzi-Continis and the film adaptation of the same name.
Bassani, a resident of Ferrara, exemplified his fictional characters: educated, acculturated, prosperous Jews who lived with a certain degree of tension between their Jewish and Italian identities. The world of the Finzi-Contini family shrank due to the fascist racial laws that progressively constrained them. The son, banned from his high school classes, studies on his own. When young people are no longer allowed to play tennis on a public court, the family builds a private one. Their once-respected status in Ferrara society is degraded, a phenomenon they cannot come to grips with. Finally, they are assembled in the Jewish school and sent to concentration camps. Bassani, a writer and intellectual, taught in that same Jewish school. He died in 2000 and is buried in the Ferrara Jewish cemetery.
We were also shown a number of the city’s impressive monuments, such as Castello Estense, the ducal palace. Nearby, we saw an impressive stone pillar, one of a mismatched pair flanking an arch dating from the 15th century. While being restored in the 18th century, round disks of gray stone were used to replace part of the column. Repairs in 1960 revealed that these were pieces of Jewish tombstones and bore dates from 1577-1690. These have yet to be removed and restored to the Jewish community, although a plaque indicates their original provenance.
Ferrara is home to the impressive MEIS (Museo Nazionale dell’Ebraismo Italiano e della Shoah), which tells the story of Jews in Italy from antiquity to the Renaissance, as well as the Holocaust. Amadeo Spagnoletto, the museum’s director, was kind enough to show me several exhibits and presented me with a gift – a book published by the museum titled Jews, an Italian Story: The First Thousand Years.
The state-of-the-art MEIS was designed to introduce school groups to the story of the Jewish people. It is well worth visiting for anyone interested in history. There was also an evocative temporary exhibition about Queen Esther.
Siena
Another town that left a lasting impression was Siena, a showpiece of the Italian Renaissance. It is most famous for its Piazza del Campo, the fan-shaped, sloping main square. A unique 90-second horse race, the Palio, is held there on July 2 and August 16. We toured the Palazzo Pubblico and Civic Museum, where we saw council chambers and elaborate frescoes depicting “Good and Bad Government.”
Adjoining is the palace’s immense bell tower, Torre del Mangia (“tower of eating”), which got its name because the first bell ringer purportedly ate up all the profits of his work by idleness.
Nearby, at 14 Vicolo delle Scotte, is the Siena Jewish Museum and synagogue, a lovely place of worship in a somewhat restrained Baroque style. Like most of the other synagogues we visited, near the entrance we saw marble tablets with slots in them – charity boxes designated for local charity needs, as well as for indigent Jews in the Land of Israel.
The building’s nondescript facade bore a plaque in memory of the victims of the Holocaust; another was in memory of 11 Jews murdered at the end of the 18th century. After Napoleon’s retreat, Jews, who had been emancipated during his brief rule, were seen as traitors and a pogrom resulted.
Services are held in the synagogue sporadically, mostly on festivals.
Terra di Seta: kosher winery
Not far from Siena, in Chianti country, we visited Terra di Seta (terradiseta.com), a kosher winery and gourmet dairy restaurant operated by Daniele Della Seta and his wife, Maria Pellegrini.
We met Daniele, a professor at Siena University, and Maria, whose family has a rich history of growing grapes for wine. Members of the Jewish community, the couple were intent on making their winery and restaurant kosher, out of a sense of Jewish identity and respect for tradition.
We had an exquisite al fresco lunch that included sea bream, parmigiana di melanzane (eggplant), homemade pasta, and tiramisu, accompanied by a delectable red wine. All the vegetables are local and organic. After lunch, we were treated to a tour of the vineyards and wine cellar. It is possible to stay in a luxurious farmhouse on the grounds or in Agrotourism accommodations in the area.
We had another wonderful dining experience at Cantina Giuliano (cantinagiuliano.com), a boutique kosher winery and restaurant that offers dairy lunches and meat dinners from two separate kitchens.
We opted for dinner – and it was unforgettable. The menu changes daily and features exceptional fare. We took a tour of the winery (not on the same premises) and met Lara, the proprietress, who has roots in Tuscany and has spent time in London and Israel.
She and her husband, Eli Gauthier, originally from Paris, make their home in Strasbourg, since that city offers a Jewish education for their children. Eli, who studies Torah and provides high-end mehadrin catering when he is not making wine, drives the nine-hour trip to Tuscany to be at the winery every month, with the family joining him during school vacations.
Cantina Giuliano also offers cooking workshops, where you can learn to make some of the outstanding dishes that are served. Some 75 minutes from Florence, this is a day trip, or you can stay in the area, as we did.
La Piccola Gerusalemme – 'Little Jerusalem'
At the southern end of Tuscany, a two-hour drive from Rome, we visited Pitigliano, known as La Piccola Gerusalemme – “Little Jerusalem.” This enchanting medieval town, built on a high volcanic cliff over a valley, was a refuge for Jews fleeing papal persecution in the 17th century, and once had a sizable community. Once 20% of the entire population, only a handful of Jews remains.
I met one of the members of the Jewish community at the Jewish grocery store, which offered some kosher products (wine and matzot) and other Jewish foods (not necessarily kosher) such as sfratto, a stick-shaped pastry filled with nuts and honey. This treat is a metaphor for Jewish history in the region: It resembles the stick that was used to expel the Jews – who turned around and made it into a sweet delicacy.
There is a museum that consists of the synagogue, a mikveh, schoolroom, matzah bakery, and kosher slaughterhouse, featuring clearly written explanations that relate to Jewish tradition and law. The synagogue was destroyed in a landslide in the 1960s, leaving only the entrance intact, and was rebuilt in 1995. We learned that members of the Jewish community who have moved elsewhere sometimes hold events there.
Although the fabric of centuries of Jewish living has become unraveled in Pitigliano, the memories remain.
From Florence to Pitigliano, our travels revealed not only Tuscany’s breathtaking landscapes and cultural treasures but also the history, resilience, creativity, and enduring identity of its Jewish communities.