The Ghetto of Venice was the world's first — the first time a city confined its Jewish population to a defined area and locked the gates at night. Established in 1516 on a small island in Cannaregio, it remained a sealed community for nearly three centuries, until Napoleon tore down the gates in 1797. Today it is one of the quietest and most contemplative corners of Venice, set around the Campo di Ghetto Nuovo, with five synagogues, a museum of Jewish history, and a small cluster of kosher restaurants and bakeries.
The word "ghetto" itself was born here. It comes from the Venetian geto, the copper foundry that stood on the island before the Jews arrived; when the Senate confined the community in 1516 the area became the Ghetto Nuovo, and the name — its meaning transformed by centuries of forced segregation — spread from Venice into every language in the world.
The buildings around the campo are noticeably taller than elsewhere in Venice. When the population grew but the island boundaries could not, the only way to build was up, producing the six- and seven-storey houses that are unusual for the city. The synagogues are concealed in their upper floors, unmarked from the street, and the Museo Ebraico runs the guided tours that are the only way inside. Come for the museum and the synagogues, then linger on the campo, where the Holocaust memorial reliefs face a square that is still the heart of Jewish Venice.