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Ghetto of Florence

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Florence’s Jewish ghetto was established in 1750 by the regions second Duke, Cosimo I de’ Medici. The ghetto's land parcel was purchased for a sum total of 2,753 Florins and 4 Lire. The Grand-Ducal government was solely responsible for the construction and operation of the ghetto.[3] The allotted district “covered the area facing today's Piazza Della Repubblica between Via Roma, Via Tosinghi and Via Brunelleschi.”[4] Within the ghetto, two synagogues were erected, One Spanish/ Levantine and the other Italian. It is presumed that these synagogues represented the most prominent compartmentalizations of Jews within the ghetto; however, Jews of different nationalities were believed to have resided as well. Between the years of 1704 and 1714, the ghetto was expanded in response to Cosimo de’ II Medici’s decree that all Jews living within Florence must relocate somewhere within the confines of the ghetto. Prior to the ghetto’s construction, prostitutes frequented the quarter’s curbs and street corners. As demolitions began, the state acknowledged the area’s abundance of prostitution, permitting such services to remain and function within the ghetto’s walls.[5] This allowance led to an association of Florentine Jews and prostitutes that would last for centuries to come. After the house of Laurane seized power in 1737, restrictions on Jewish life were noticeably lessened, and Jews began to once again migrate outside the ghetto’s walls. Directly following Italy’s recognition of Jewish emancipation in 1861, the ghetto was definitively opened. In 1888, an urban requalification plan led to the demolition of the ghetto’s original buildings, leaving the space unrecognizably altered.[6]

The Jewish ghetto of Florence’s most prominent feature is undoubtedly the wall that encircles it. The ghetto’s enclosure, unlike conventional barriers, was composed of the quarter’s most external buildings, linked by plaster and brick. The ghetto’s design is attributed to Duke Medici’s personal architect, Bernardo Buotalenti. Buotalenti, known for his prolific creation of the capital’s military installations, brought a similar, strict and linear flare to his drafting of the ghetto.[7] Not only was Buotalenti tasked with preparing a diminutive district for thousands of recently relocated Jews he was also prompted to craft a dwelling that rested invisibly into the backdrop of the bustling Florentine cityscape. Ripping all existing buildings down to the dirt on which they stood, Buotalenti aimed to create an entirely new and cohesive space. Even the sewers were deemed too antiquated to handle an influx in population and were stripped and reinstalled. The ghetto’s market offered a central meeting place at which patrons from both within and outside the ghetto’s walls might trade and converse. On the market’s southeastern corner, a looming granite pillar stood towering over vendors and passersby. The post served as a place of public punishment for those convicted by Florence’s criminal court, clutching poor souls to its craggy chest and hoisting them above freshly picked fruits and veggies.[8] The ghetto was accessible by two gates, both controlled and locked from the outside. Herein lies the difference between the Mellahs of North Africa and the ghettos of Europe. While residents of Mellahs migrated freely, those confined within ghettos were permitted to leave only when granted permission by some overseeing government body.

Where the ghetto of Florence once stood, today, rests an unassuming complex of buildings, no different than their red roof-clad neighbors. Despite having few vestiges of its existence, on September 3, 2000, a day of international Jewish remembrance, the plot on which the ghetto once resided hosted speakers and performers that discussed and displayed the site’s complex history.[9]

Florence , Italy

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