Schola Canton

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 Ashkenazi 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 fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the Ghetto Nuovo today has only a small Jewish community but its history can still be explored through its evocative buildings.

As a marker of Jewish history in Venice and the Ghetto Nuovo, the Schola Canton remains an important site for Jews living in the city, and a significant monument to Jewish cultural history. Additionally, the quality of the site’s craftsmanship reflects the influence of both the Jewish and Venetian cultural aesthetics on the ghetto community, both at the time of the Schola Canton’s creation in the sixteenth century and during subsequent additions and renovations to the synagogue. WMF’s work at the site ensures the building’s immediate survival and showcases the synagogue’s unique decorative achievements.