Ghetto Reveals Rome

Benjamin walked down from the Capitoline Hill towards the Circus Flaminius in order to reach the other Jews on the banks of the Tiber River at the Tiberina Island. They, who had been Roman Jews for more than a century, would welcome the Jewish slaves brought to Rome because of the victory of Titus. The Rabbi of the Sc la Catalana was witnessing the demolition of the Ghetto, where he was born, and the rapid changes occurring in that part of the city, until the construction of the new Synagogue and of the new Umbertine buildings. His great grandson, Gabriele, is now gazing at the restoration works that are being carried out. His eyes are lost in the ancient masonry and the monuments that are being unearthed. They are from the more than three centuries of confinement and they rest on ancient structures, those which two thousand years ago surrounded the Circus Flaminius.What you can see, what you can think and how you can follow the path of memory between reason and fantasy.The Roman Ghetto was established by papal edict in 1555, Jews were locked in its walls at night and forced to live under strict restrictions. The ghetto was abolished some 300 years later, when the walls of the ghetto were finally demolished in 1888. (Italian and English facing text)