A day-long series of events this past Sunday (November 10) celebrated the 200th birthday of the elegant synagogue in Sabbioneta, near Mantova in northern Italy — a town built in the 16th century by Duke Vespasiano Gonzaga and laid out as an ideal Renaissance city.
Events began with a conference on aspects of Jewish history in and around Sabbioneta. This was followed by a guided tour of the exhibit The Gonzagas and the Jews at the Ducal Palace, a guided tour of the synagogue, and a concert.
Sabbioneta’s mayor, the president of the Jewish community of Mantova, and other VIPs took part.
Jews lived in Sabbioneta from the town’s early days — even before it was laid out in its present form, and the town developed into an important center of Hebrew printing. Sabbioneta (including the Synagogue) and nearby Mantova (Mantua) were included in the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites in 2008.
There is no Jewish community in Sabbioneta today, and the synagogue forms part of the town’s cultural attractions.
The synagogue dates from 1824 — its present form is an enlargement and rebuilding of an earlier structure by a Lombard architect named Carlo Visioli. It has a gilded ark set behind a low, elaborate grille and flanked by Corinthian columns. The ceiling is decorated by ornate stucco work.
The synagogue, along with others in northern Italy, was damaged in an earthquake in 2012.
Sabbioneta also has a Jewish cemetery, located about half a kilometer outside the town on the way to Borgofreddo. It was founded in the late 18th century; the last burial was in 1937.