Though Rome’s Jewish Ghetto no longer officially exists (it was abolished in 1882), the neighborhood is still the center of Rome’s Jewish community, the oldest in Italy. The city’s 19th-century synagogue— home to the Jewish Museum of Rome— is here, as are winding lanes lined with kosher restaurants, markets, and butchers.
Like many cities in Europe, Rome required its Jewish residents to live in a separate, walled-off neighborhood during the Middle Ages. The Roman Jewish Ghetto (Ghetto Ebraico di Roma) was established in 1555, when the city erected walls around this area in the historic center; these barriers were torn down only after the ghetto was abolished in 1882. Today, despite its unhappy history, the Jewish Ghetto is now one of Rome’s most beautiful neighborhoods.