The Rome Index
Jewish Rome
2,000 years of Jewish history in one of the world's oldest continuous communities.
The history
Rome's Jewish community predates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem — Jews were present in Rome from at least the 2nd century BC, making this one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world. The community survived Roman Empire, Catholic papacy, ghetto confinement, and Nazi occupation, and remains active in the city today.
The Ghetto
Pope Paul IV confined Rome's Jews to the Ghetto in 1555 — a small area of what is now the Sant'Angelo district near the Theatre of Marcellus. The walls came down only in 1870 with Italian unification. The neighbourhood today retains its distinct character, culinary traditions and the Tempio Maggiore (Great Synagogue), which has a museum worth visiting.
Visiting today
The Jewish Museum of Rome inside the Tempio Maggiore documents the community's full history including the 1943 deportations. The neighbourhood's restaurants serve the Jewish-Roman culinary tradition — carciofi alla giudìa, baccalà, and the ricotta e visciole tart — in a context that makes the food mean more.
Survival through the Nazi occupation
During the 1943-44 Nazi occupation of Rome, over a thousand of the city's Jewish residents were deported, the majority to Auschwitz, in a single infamous raid — a devastating chapter that the community's Museum and memorial markers throughout the Ghetto specifically commemorate, alongside the broader story of Italian citizens who sheltered Jewish neighbours at genuine personal risk during this period.
Continuity despite historical trauma
Despite centuries of restriction and the 20th century's catastrophic losses, Rome's Jewish community has maintained unbroken continuity of practice and presence — synagogue services, kosher food traditions and community institutions all continue actively today, a genuine story of resilience worth understanding beyond the historical facts alone.
