The Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the most famous sights in Italy — and, indeed in Europe. But did you know that just next to it, over the wall from the Piazza dei Miracoli, there is a Jewish cemetery dating back centuries?
As of this month (June 2019) the cemetery and the centuries-old synagogue in Pisa can be visited on a regular basis on Sundays and Thursdays, between 11:00 and 17:00.
Visits to both sites are managed now by the cultural operator CoopCulture and are accessible via guided tours that must be reserved ahead of time. (CoopCulture manages visits to a number of other Jewish heritage sites in Italy, including the synagogues in Siena and Florence, and the Jewish Museum in Venice.)
The synagogue in Pisa is documented as having occupied the same building since around 1595.
Initially rented, the complex was purchased in 1647 and first renovated in 1785. In 1861-65 it was renovated again, according to a design by the architect Marco Treves. Its interior, noted for a beautifully ornate ceiling, is hidden behind a plain exterior facade that faces the street. Under Treves:
The façade was redesigned, and is simple with classical forms. The main hall of the synagogue, situated on the first floor, was raised, and Treves added the second order of windows, and the large pavilion vault adorned with understated neoclassical decorations. The furnishings were rearranged to reflect a new layout that had become popular during the emancipation era, inspired by Catholic churches.
In June 2015, the synagogue was rededicated and reopened after being closed for eight years during a €1.3 million restoration process.
This week — on June 25 — an Aron ha Kodesh originally from Pisa and dating back to the 16th century — believed to be the oldest Ark in Tuscany — was unveiled at an event in Florence after a fullscale renovation. Decorated with gilding and polychrome painting, it had already been transferred to Florence by 1570.
Click to read our article about the rededication of the synagogue
Click here to see a slideshow of the synagogue
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The cemetery was founded in 1674 and includes various styles of grave markers, mostly in the horizontal or sarcophagal Sephardic style. Three earlier Jewish cemeteries no longer exist, though traces of the oldest, dating back to the 13th century, can still be found:
The oldest dates back to the thirteenth century and was situated next to the Porta Nuova, where epigraphs have been found carved into the city walls. A second one, documented in 1330 and perhaps used until the sixteenth century, was further south, on land belonging to the da Pisa family. The third, mentioned in surveys from 1618 and 1622, was also located along the western walls, to the left of Porta Nuova. It seems to have remained in use for a short period until 1674, when the Grand Duke Ferdinando II requested the land to use it for another purpose, and offered the area of the current cemetery in exchange.
In his 1933 book A World Passed By (described as the first Jewish guide book to Europe and North Africa), the writer Marvin Lowenthal used the Jewish cemetery in Pisa as an example of how Jewish heritage sites were often overlooked and ignored. He wrote:
The synagogues, as in Segovia, Cordova, or Lemberg, often stand within a stone’s throw (and many were the stones thrown) of a famed cathedral. The cemeteries, as in Pisa, often lie literally and figuratively in the shadow of a renowned historic pile. The ghettos … wait around the corner from a tourist postcard shop.
But the average traveller knows nothing of their existence
Yet, like the cathedrals and castles of Christian Europe and the Moslem antiquities of Spain and North Africa, the Jewish monuments embody and perpetuate one of the oldest cultural forces of the Western World. They, too, are a part of Europe’s past and the heritage of our common civilization.
Watch a video (in Italian) about Jewish heritage in Pisa:
Click here to see a slideshow of the cemetery
Access CoopCulture to make a reservation