Sunday visit to the Jewish Monumental Cemetery

Saturday 1 June 2024 — 08:40

Visits to Jewish sites continue thanks to the Jewish Community of Livorno and Amaranta services. Cost €10.00 per person.

The Monumental Cemetery in Viale Ippolito Nievo was built in 1840, in compliance with the Tuscan grand-ducal provisions which obliged the nations present in Livorno to transfer their graveyards outside the new toll ring, built starting in 1938. The cemetery covers an area of approximately 10,000 square meters and hosts almost 4000 burials dating back to between 1840 and 1901 when it was banned because it was too close to the homes of the Florentine Barriera. It is accessed from viale Ippolito Nievo, through a decorated cast iron gate, restored by

a few years thanks to the Jewish Community of Livorno and the Cassa di Risparmi Foundation. Here there are the tombs of the Chayes family, the Attias family, the Rosselli family, rabbis, such as Costa and Coriat, Benamozegh, the Modigliani family. Livorno could be a place from which to delve deeper into Jewish culture, or to return to one’s roots. A pleasant stay, with the sea just a stone’s throw away and lots of history to discover. A city waiting to be discovered, where Tuscan roots blend with Mediterranean cultures, creating cosmopolitan, lively and colorful atmospheres. City that makes the sea the main element of life, a source of inspiration, both in everyday life

its image from architecture, to urban planning, to gastronomy. A tamed sea, which penetrates the city through a complex system of canals and is transformed into waterways, once with a commercial vocation now for pleasure and tourism. A young city, born just over four centuries ago, from an ambitious and unscrupulous political, economic and urban planning project of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany, who thanks to their foresight created a cosmopolitan port city, rich in cultural contaminations and influences. Jews have been present in Livorno since the end of 1500, thanks to the policy of Grand Duke Ferdinando dei Medici, who implemented a strategy

inclusive and dynamic demographic. Livorno thus becomes a city without a ghetto! Numerous, free, rooted in Livorno society, they will leave important traces in the culture, traditions and Labronian language.

With the end of the Medici and the advent of the Lorenas at the helm of the Grand Duchy of Tuscany we witness a decline in port activity in Livorno, many Florentine families disinvest in port traffic, the Lorenas do not adapt to the new way of trading, the port deposit is overcome, so we are witnessing a removal of foreigners from Livorno and a consequent economic crisis, the Jewish Community will be the only one, which, although downsizing, will maintain an active and lively presence, both entrepreneurially and culturally, becoming, with the emancipation , absolutely Italian. With the racial laws of 1938, once again the Community will show all its liveliness and courage with the creation of a school, within the Marini yeshiva, to allow students to continue their educational path. Even today, despite having few members, it maintains a high religious and cultural profile. It has a cataloged and largely computerized artistic and book heritage and is present in interreligious dialogue tables; hosts schools from all over Tuscany in the Synagogue with educational projects, ranging from food, to language, to archival research.