The Jewish Cemetery in the Parco del Cardeto

The Jewish community of Ancona is one of the most ancient and relevant in Italy. Their presence is over a thousand years old, dating back to the year 967, and closely related to the development of the port throughout the centuries, to its exchange and trade with the Orient, to its influence over time on the spiritual and multicultural dialogues making their way to Jerusalem. A long history that endures in language and culture, in synagogues and in the districts that have contributed to forming their identity, and recur in the names of streets and places, in material culture, with the recipes for feast days and Shabbat, and in the cemetery of the Parco del Cardeto, which is now a museum. Jewish identity is a matrix that has reverberated in a variety of ways over the years. It isn’t always visible, but it resurfaces in dialogues with the city; it has the power of words and of a millennial cultural heritage.

Text: Cristiana Colli