Why did we choose this location?

Apart from its natural beauty and rich general culture, Tuscany has been home to many Jewish communities throughout the ages.

One of the earliest recorded descriptions is found in Benjamin of Tudela's Book of Travels of the 12th century, where he relates meeting Jews in Pisa and Lucca and names some of them.

For many years the principal occupation of Jews in the region was restricted to money-lending, as in other Christian countries. In the early 14th century 3 Jewish bankers were living in San Gemignano and Jewish banks existed in other towns in Tuscany.

In the 16th century Jews who fled the Inquisition from Portugal and Spain were invited by the Grand Duke of Tuscany to come and settle in the dukedom to help boost their trade and economy. Pisa and especially Livorno benefited from their presence.

Again in the 16th century a new community was established in the very south of Tuscany in a hillside village called Pitigliano. Jews expelled from the Papal States came here; also from Florence where conditions in the ghetto were wretched. The community thrived and in 1841 there were over 250 Jews living there.

In the late 1860s Jews from Pitigliano and other smaller towns started to move away to join larger communities such as Siena, Florence and Livorno.

Our guides are Jewish Italians specializing in the history of the area. They will help us to understand