Pitigliano - A Unique Tuscan Village
Fifty-two kilometres west of the town of Orvieto on the AI Motorway, is 'Little Jerusalem' or the village of Pitigliano.
It is an ancient hilltop settlement in southern Tuscany's Grosetto province and, even though there is no Jewish community at present living in the town, its inhabitants still take pride in their tolerant history.
This enchanting village encircled by the lush valleys of three rivers: the Opeta, the Fiora and the Lente, is perched 313 metres above sea level on an impressive pinnacle of tuff formed when ash ejected from volcanic vents, cooled and hardened.
The original tuff cliffs were eroded into numerous caves, and the weathered ravines on three sides, created a natural citadel.
The medieval inhabitants completed this natural fortification with towered walls on the remaining side that appear to be emerging from the rock.
Over the millennia, various groups occupied the town.
The Etruscans excavated paths out of the tufa rock with walls more than ten metres high.
These hidden lines of communication still run down the outsides of the town to the valleys below.
The Etruscans also buried their dead in cave tombs and the Romans, who further developed the town, built niches under their houses to hold funerary urns.
The powerful noble families: Aldobrandeschi, Orsini and Medici, who ruled consecutively from the late 8th-16th centuries were responsible for most of the outstanding buildings in Pitigliano such as the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul with its bell tower and filled with stunning works of priceless value, as well as the Arches of the Medici Aqueducts.
In the 16th century the town's demographics and appearance changed when Pope Pius IV issued a papal bull placing oppressive restrictions on the Jewish population of Rome.
Other Italian cities followed suit and Jews were segregated into locked ghettoes.
Pitligliano offered refuge to the Roman Jews who for a while made up 10% of the town's population.
They benefited the Pitigliano community by bringing with them their economic expertise and set up a Jewish University.
The two groups lived in peace and respect.
The Jewish Synagogue is filled with works of art and its walls painted with Biblical quotes.
There is also the 'Ghetto' where the Jewish population lived and worked: a kosher bakery, still open today, a kosher butchery and ritual Mikvah baths for purification, as well as a Jewish Museum.
Just outside the town is the beautifully maintained Jewish cemetery that can be inspected on request.
During WWII, with its deportations and massacres, the people of Pitigliano once again risked their lives to hide Jews from the occupying Nazis and helped them escape.
The legacy of the Jews, together with those of the Etruscans, ancient Romans, Medieval and Renaissance noble families, add to Pitigliano's reputation as one of the most beautiful towns in Italy.
It is an ancient hilltop settlement in southern Tuscany's Grosetto province and, even though there is no Jewish community at present living in the town, its inhabitants still take pride in their tolerant history.
This enchanting village encircled by the lush valleys of three rivers: the Opeta, the Fiora and the Lente, is perched 313 metres above sea level on an impressive pinnacle of tuff formed when ash ejected from volcanic vents, cooled and hardened.
The original tuff cliffs were eroded into numerous caves, and the weathered ravines on three sides, created a natural citadel.
The medieval inhabitants completed this natural fortification with towered walls on the remaining side that appear to be emerging from the rock.
Over the millennia, various groups occupied the town.
The Etruscans excavated paths out of the tufa rock with walls more than ten metres high.
These hidden lines of communication still run down the outsides of the town to the valleys below.
The Etruscans also buried their dead in cave tombs and the Romans, who further developed the town, built niches under their houses to hold funerary urns.
The powerful noble families: Aldobrandeschi, Orsini and Medici, who ruled consecutively from the late 8th-16th centuries were responsible for most of the outstanding buildings in Pitigliano such as the Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul with its bell tower and filled with stunning works of priceless value, as well as the Arches of the Medici Aqueducts.
In the 16th century the town's demographics and appearance changed when Pope Pius IV issued a papal bull placing oppressive restrictions on the Jewish population of Rome.
Other Italian cities followed suit and Jews were segregated into locked ghettoes.
Pitligliano offered refuge to the Roman Jews who for a while made up 10% of the town's population.
They benefited the Pitigliano community by bringing with them their economic expertise and set up a Jewish University.
The two groups lived in peace and respect.
The Jewish Synagogue is filled with works of art and its walls painted with Biblical quotes.
There is also the 'Ghetto' where the Jewish population lived and worked: a kosher bakery, still open today, a kosher butchery and ritual Mikvah baths for purification, as well as a Jewish Museum.
Just outside the town is the beautifully maintained Jewish cemetery that can be inspected on request.
During WWII, with its deportations and massacres, the people of Pitigliano once again risked their lives to hide Jews from the occupying Nazis and helped them escape.
The legacy of the Jews, together with those of the Etruscans, ancient Romans, Medieval and Renaissance noble families, add to Pitigliano's reputation as one of the most beautiful towns in Italy.
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