A foundation created by the fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg has begun a project to restore Venice’s former ghetto in order to preserve the memory of its once-great Jewish community. Livia Albeck-Ripka writes:
The rehabilitation of the Venice ghetto is long overdue. In 1516 the Serenissima Repubblica confined its Jews to the first ghetto in the world. Gated into a small, polluted island on the periphery of the city, the community was locked up at midnight by Christian guards whom they had to pay upon entering the ghetto; they were discharged at dawn. But while the ghetto was created as an act of segregation, over time it became a refuge in which Jewish culture and identity thrived. Both imprisoned and united by the canals of Venice, Jews found—despite the intentions of the government—a space in which to wholly express themselves, forging a community that would go on to influence the city, and Europe as a whole.
Read more on Tablet: http://tabletmag.com/jewish-life-and-religion/187770/restoring-venice-ghetto