The Jewish quarter and the Great Synagogue

Stops along the way

Things to notice.

1. 01

   1

   Piazza della Repubblica

   Start where the old ghetto actually stood, under the triumphal arch that replaced it in the 1880s — the inscription credits the city with clearing 'squalor', which is one way to describe demolishing where the Jews were once locked. Read it, then walk east; the community moved this way.

   01

   Piazza della Repubblica

   Start where the old ghetto actually stood, under the triumphal arch that replaced it in the 1880s — the inscription credits the city with clearing 'squalor', which is one way to describe demolishing where the Jews were once locked. Read it, then walk east; the community moved this way.

   ◉Street View
2. 02

   2

   Tempio Maggiore (Great Synagogue)

   The Moorish-Byzantine pile with the green copper dome, finished in 1882 once the ghetto was gone and Jews could build in the open. Go in if you can — the interior is all gilded arabesque — but even the outside, rising over low rooftops, makes the point about a community choosing to be visible at last.

   02

   Tempio Maggiore (Great Synagogue)

   The Moorish-Byzantine pile with the green copper dome, finished in 1882 once the ghetto was gone and Jews could build in the open. Go in if you can — the interior is all gilded arabesque — but even the outside, rising over low rooftops, makes the point about a community choosing to be visible at last.

   ◉Street View
3. 03

   3

   Museo Ebraico di Firenze

   Inside the synagogue complex, the museum tells the long story — arrival, the ghetto, emancipation, the 1944 deportations, the flood of 1966 that drowned the archives. Two floors, unhurried. You don't have to do every case; the upstairs ritual silver is the thing.

   03

   Museo Ebraico di Firenze

   Inside the synagogue complex, the museum tells the long story — arrival, the ghetto, emancipation, the 1944 deportations, the flood of 1966 that drowned the archives. Two floors, unhurried. You don't have to do every case; the upstairs ritual silver is the thing.

   ◉Street View
4. 04

   4

   Via dei Pilastri

   Walk the street of the modern Jewish quarter, where the kosher bakery and butcher still trade. Don't shop for the sake of it; just clock how a community that was once walled in now simply lives here, doors open onto the pavement.

   04

   Via dei Pilastri

   Walk the street of the modern Jewish quarter, where the kosher bakery and butcher still trade. Don't shop for the sake of it; just clock how a community that was once walled in now simply lives here, doors open onto the pavement.

   ◉Street View
5. 05

   5

   Sant'Ambrogio market

   The neighbourhood's working food market — the one Florentines actually use, far quieter than the central halls. Slip in for a coffee at the counter and a look at the stalls; *trippa* and *lampredotto* are sold from the truck outside if you're brave with offal.

   05

   Sant'Ambrogio market

   The neighbourhood's working food market — the one Florentines actually use, far quieter than the central halls. Slip in for a coffee at the counter and a look at the stalls; *trippa* and *lampredotto* are sold from the truck outside if you're brave with offal.

   ◉Street View
6. 06

   6

   Piazza dei Ciompi

   End at the square named for the 1378 wool-workers' revolt, with Vasari's airy Loggia del Pesce reassembled on one side. A good place to sit before you backtrack. The C2 electric bus and the tram links toward SMN pick up a short walk west.

   06

   Piazza dei Ciompi

   End at the square named for the 1378 wool-workers' revolt, with Vasari's airy Loggia del Pesce reassembled on one side. A good place to sit before you backtrack. The C2 electric bus and the tram links toward SMN pick up a short walk west.

   ◉Street View