The establishment of the Jewish quarter in Venice dates back to the 16th and 18th centuries. The word "ghetto" comes from it. Citizens of Jewish descent had an island where they could live. During the day they had permission to move around the city, but during Christian holidays they could not leave the borders of their "ghetto".
Currently, the former ghetto is still the center of Jewish life in Venice. There you can find kosher restaurants, a yeshiva college, a cemetery, a store with Judaica, a museum, and five synagogues preserved in their original shape.
Although a relatively large number of Judaism lived in the Venetian ghetto, they never assimilated enough to create a separate ethnic identity. One of the synagogues located there was built as a private temple for four families. In contrast, the other four were clearly divided in ethnic terms: separate for Italian, German, Spanish and Portuguese Jews, as well as Levantine Sephardic.
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