On Tuesday I wrote a list of of the places I wanted to visit & the things I want to see before I leave. I can hardly believe I leave here three weeks tomorrow. The weather has been wonderful this week & I have been out & about Wednesday & Thursday. Today was Yoga & I needed to clean the apartment before I left for my class, which I enjoyed. I sauntered home via the supermarket & the bar for a Spritz. Tonight I am meeting Neda & we are going to Harry's Bar for a Bellini.
The Ghetto campo
Yesterday I went to the Ghetto & toured the synagogues there & I had a private tour as I was the only person for the English tour. The Ghetto here in Venice was the first in the world, not a thing to be proud of. Ghetto means foundry in Italian & it was in this area they were made to live. The Jews couldn't say the soft G & so the hard G was used to make the word as it is today. The area was an island with two entrances & a gate was closed at night. At it's height five thousand people live on this tiny island. Today the Jews are scattered all over Venice and very few live here. Now the area is open to anyone.
Yesterday I went to the Ghetto & toured the synagogues there & I had a private tour as I was the only person for the English tour. The Ghetto here in Venice was the first in the world, not a thing to be proud of. Ghetto means foundry in Italian & it was in this area they were made to live. The Jews couldn't say the soft G & so the hard G was used to make the word as it is today. The area was an island with two entrances & a gate was closed at night. At it's height five thousand people live on this tiny island. Today the Jews are scattered all over Venice and very few live here. Now the area is open to anyone.
There was a guard on duty all night to ensure no-one left & the Jews were made to pay for the guards! The photo here shows the entrance & you can see where the hinges were fixed.
Left is a photo of the Venetian "skyscrappers". As the Jews had nowhere to expand they buildings had to go upwards, this is eight stories & the height of the rooms is only 6 feet to make maximum use of space. This is just outside the original island, eventually they were given a little more land.
I also went around San Michele, the cemetery islands & visited two churches.
Earlier in the week Ilooked around the San Polo area & found Francesco da Mosta's Palazzo, a very grand one considering it is not on the Grand Canal & drawfs the neighbouring houses.
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