The Schola Canton, constructed in 1532, shortly after the enforced segregation of Jews in the Venetian Ghetto Nuovo, stands as one of the oldest and most important extant Jewish institutions in the city. (...)
The Schola Canton, constructed in 1532, shortly after the enforced segregation of Jews in the Venetian Ghetto Nuovo, stands as one of the oldest and most important extant Jewish institutions in the city. The Ghetto Nuovo is often considered the first Jewish ghetto in Europe and the Schola Canton, which occupies the top floor of a vernacular building in the settlement, reflects both the vibrancy of Jewish life in medieval Venice and the continued attempts by ruling authorities to suppress Jewish culture within the ghetto. Inconspicuous from the outside but richly decorated within, Schola Canton remained largely unknown to outsiders, even as its importance to the Ashkenazic liturgical community increased. Though the gates to the ghetto were torn down following Napoleon’s conquest of the city in 1797, a measure of equal rights was not extended to Venetian Jews until the region became part of the Italian nation as a result of unification in 1866. Home to thousands of Venetian Jews in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Ghetto Nuovo today has only a small Jewish community but its history can still be explored through its evocative buildings.
