Isola di San Clemente (San Clemente Island) is a small island in the Venetian Lagoon in Italy. For centuries it housed a monastic settlement, and more recently an asylum. It is now the site of a luxury hotel. San Clemente Island lies in the Venetian Lagoon between Giudecca and the Lido. The island covers 6 hectares (15 acres), of which 1.34 is edified. read more…
The Great Synagogue of Rome (Italian: Tempio Maggiore di Roma) is the largest synagogue in Rome. The Jewish community of Rome goes back to the 2nd century B.C when the Roman Republic had an alliance of sorts with Judea under the leadership of Judah Maccabeus. At that time, many Jews came to Rome from Judea. Their numbers increased during the following centuries due to the settlement that came with Mediterranean trade. Then large numbers of Jews were brought to Rome as slaves following the Jewish–Roman wars in Judea from 63 to 135 CE. read more…
The Palazzo dei Normanni (Norman Palace) is also called Royal Palace of Palermo. It was the seat of the Kings of Sicily with the Hauteville dynasty and served afterwards as the main seat of power for the subsequent rulers of Sicily. Since 1946 it has been the seat of the Sicilian Regional Assembly. The building is the oldest royal residence in Europe; and was the private residence of the rulers of the Kingdom of Sicily and the imperial seat of Frederick II and Conrad IV. The palace stands in the highest point of the ancient centre of the city, just above the first Punic settlements, whose remains can still be found in the basement. read more…
The Museum of Italian Judaism and the Shoah (MEIS) (Italian: Museo Nazionale dell’Ebraismo Italiano e della Shoah) is a public history museum in Ferrara, Italy. It opened in 2017, and traces the history of the Jewish people in Italy starting from the Roman empire through the Holocaust of the 20th century. Chartered by the Italian government in 2003, MEIS contains over 200 artifacts and exhibits that proceed chronologically through the periods of Jewish history in Italy. The museum is continuing to expand through the year 2021. read more…