antico ghetto e sinagoga pitigliano

This is an entire complex consisting of a museum, conference room, underground rooms and passageways and a sinagague. The story of the Jews in Pitigliano is an interesting one. Just finding it is an experience. It would be worthwhile to go with a guide who can give you the history of the place.

Interesting ancient Jewish Ghetto and Synagogue in Pitigliano. Series of rooms preserved from the original ghetto with well-presented explanations and surmounted by the synagogue. History and artefacts and Jewish calendar and customs are well-explained.

The Sinagoga is nice and might be worth to pop in if you have 20/30 min to spare.The ghetto is just very picturesque and charming, definitely worth to have a stroll through the little lanes. You will feel like you went back in time!

I was fascinated to read and to see all the things that had happened in that place - amazing and interesting for all people not only jews

We visited Pitigliano from Siena, about 2-21/2 hour drive. Seeing the hilltop town from below is absolutely amazing. We took a tour of the town and the Synagogue with Elisabetta Peri (perielisabetta@gmail.com). She lives in Pitigliano and is most knowledge about the area. The town is also known as Little Jerusalem. We learned of the history of the Jews in the area and how they were welcomed to Putigliano and later saved from the Nazis in WWII. The town is charming and there were few tourists there when we were there. Elisabetta later drove us to Sovana, a town of 100 inhabitants. There is one street in the town and we enjoyed strolling it, looking at the shops.We then returned to Pitigliano, bought a bottle of Kosher for Passover delicious wine and had a lovely lunch at a local restaurant. Pitigliano is a must for anyone touring Tuscany and definitely contact Elisabetta Peri for a wonderful tour.

This was an extremely interesting experience. We got to see the place where they made wine, the bakery where they made the unleavened bread, the room where they washed before worshiping, and the actual site of the worship. I went upstairs to the room where women were allowed to worship and wow! What a view! But it did feel very "separate" from the downstairs where the men worshiped. It was amazing to be walking in such an ancient place.

Pitigliano, a village in the Maremina area of Tuscany. An easy 2 hour drive from our home base in Cortona, passing thru the delightful town of Bolsana, on the Lake.We booked a morning tour with Elisabetta Peri (perielisabetta@gmail.com). A local resident and one of the best tour guides we have met. Memorable sites included the 16th century Medici Aqueduct, Palazzo Orisini, the Cathedral of S Peter & Paul. The highlight of the tour was the Jewish Ghetto, "Little Jerusalem". If you want fantastic scenery, sites and a fabulous town without tourists, this is a must see, along with the nearby town of Sovana.

The Museo Ebraico that inhabits the old synagogue is a rare opportunity to explore how the Jewish community lived in Italy. The fact that functional rooms, the dye room, the wine cellar and the butchery are preserved is priceless and I haven't seen another example like it from this time period. A little more interpretative material would be helpful, but it's still an interesting and informative site. Just outside the Museo there is a small shop that sells the Little Gerusalem wine (not great, but proceeds support the attraction) and a tasty variation on charoset called sfratti (the exiled), basically a fruit and nut paste wrapped in a cookie-like pastry. Make sure to try it!

For whoever is interested in Jewish history, this part of town is a definite must see. It sheds light on how the Jewish community lived in this part of Italy.

Italian jewish history is not widely covered while visiting typical tour destinations. Pitigliano is an exception. We've heard about the city's nickname "Little Jerusalem" and expected to find some type of jewish community in the city. It was a complete surprise to learn that there are only 2 people left (if at all). Despite that the Synagogue has been lovingly restored and the museum provides a great overview of the past generations as well as jewish customs and traditions. The caves (some attribute them to Etruscan times) were used for religious ceremonies, making of matzo, meat preparation according to kosher rules, etc. The place is small but there are little brochures provided with the paid (small) entrance fee.Highly recommend.

The Jewish museum, although small, is extremely interesting and tells the story of this little town which used to be called "Little Jerusalem" as at one point 25% of the population was Jewish! Today there is just one Jewish woman left in her 80s. The story of the Jewish population here is fascinating as is a visit to the Synagogue inside the museum. There defintely lacks some explanations especially inside the Synagogue so I recommend reading up on the history before to fully benefit from the visit. What an amazing story of Jewish History there is to be learned here. Well worth the visit to this lovely attraction. Note: Women must have their shoulders covered to enter the Synagogue.

We weren't going to visit the Maremma until we read the recommendation in our travel guide, Florence & Tuscany with Kids, which convinced us to give this less known part of Tuscany a try. What a discovery! Pitigliano itself is tiny but beautiful, and well worth a visit. The museum is interesting too, as is the rest of the town. If you want to see a different part of Tuscany, and don't mind a bit of a drive (the roads are narrow!) this is the place. We also booked a riding tour of the area, following our visit to Pitagliano, and it was wonderful.

Not a very big museum but it gives the flavor of what it meant to be Jewish for a few hundred, or less, years in the past 2 centuries in Pitigliano.

A nicely restored ancient synagogue, with the ruins from the "Ghetto" in this lovely hilltown in the Maremma region of Italy. Fascinating and moving to see how jews lived here so many years ago. Driving in the region is not exactly a great pleasure as the roads are narrow and many are steep too. However Pitigliano and Sorano are just wonderful. As a bonus we found people were invariably helpful.

In italy, its easy to be churched out, especially for someone who is not religious in any way, shape or form. A stop at the sinagoga di pitigliano is an interesting departure from the wealth of the church. To see the ghetto where Jews were banished from Rome and allowed to flourish in this southern Tuscan town in the 1500's is sobering. Worth the visit.