Jewish communities in Calabria

According to a legend, which attests  the presence of an ancient Jewish community in our region,  Reggio was founded by Aschenez, great-grandson of Noah.

 The first work in Hebrew was printed in Reggio. At one of the first print-works of the history based on the Giudecca of Reggio, in fact, the first version of the Hebrew Bible was born February 5, 1475 .

The oldest synagogue in Europe, after that of Ostia Antica, is in Bova Marina with its rich mosaics of the fourth century AD

In the Middle Ages were many Jews who settled in Calabria, but  they were finally driven out in 1541.

The Jews were not only present in Reggio. There were giudecche in Bova, San Lorenzo,      Motta San Giovanni, Bagnara (1502-1503), Pentidattilo,Sant‘ Eufemia  and in other towns of the province.

After the final expulsion, the Jews disappeared but returned temporarily in the sad circumstances in Ferramonti internal camp during the Second World War.

In Calabria there is the largest concentration   camp of Italy, with a surface of 16 hectares, located in the municipality of Ferramonti of Tarsia, a town 35 kilometers from Cosenza.

Here thousands of Jews, stateless persons, foreigners, whose only crime was belonging to a hostile nation or race or political beliefs were interned during World War II 

Fortunately this was not an extermination camp,  but  an internment  and gathering camp, which was built like  a concentration camp but, ironically, represented a sort of salvation for those who were imprisoned. Ferramonti  was the first camp liberated by Allied troops.

Concentration camp Ferramonti

During the modernization of the national road along the valley of the river San Pasquale, the remains of an ancient synagogue dated between the fourth and sixth century AD. came to light, accidentally, in 1986.  

The site is in Bova Marina, a small village on the Ionian coast. It must be said that all the synagogues stood near the shore of the sea and Bova was no exception, as well as the largest synagogue in Italy, in Ostia, because the sea was the place through which the trade took place and just along the coast Jewish settlements were born and developed .

Synagogue Bova Marina

The building was formed by two square rooms, the first was a vestibule. In the other room a mosaic floor is still preserved. The floor is dated back to the 4th century AD. There are 16 squares delimited by a double braid, in the midst of which we see Solomon's knot, the menorah, the shofar ... cedar, palm leaf.

Near this floor a clay vessel with thousands of coins was found. They  were certainly offered by  devotees. Upstream of the Synagogue there are some tombs that testify the  presence of two civilizations represented by the Jewish synagogue and the Roman   ancient walls.

The local Jewish community certainly held a prominent role with regard to the trade in the area along the lines of the Mediterranean sea and land. This is demonstrated by the several ceramic findings that prove the origin of amphorae from the whole basin of Mare Nostrum

The area contains numerous traces that testify to the mix of different cultures that developed in Calabria. These archaeological investigations have made it possible, in fact, to appreciate how this site of Magna Grecia, during the Roman Empire, has developed the co-existence between the local population and observant of Jewish faith

In Castrovillari, the ancient Via Giudecca, reminds us the presence of a large Jewish community resident here at least since the Swabian time. Here the Jews were merchants and artisans, and they were very powerful, both economically and politically. The Jews left the city in 1512. Meanwhile, off Calabria, the Giudecche were  turned into ghettos, from which no Jew could get away.

Synagogue Castrovillari

Historical sources show that in the area of Brancaleone, Bruzzano and Ferruzzano around the year 1500, some Jewish communities lived. In particular, in Bruzzano and Brancaleone, there were some real giudecche. We suppose that their "landing" on the Calabrian coast took place in order to avoid the persecutions of which they were victims in the Middle East. The Jews were dedicated to small business, agriculture, processing of precious and wear.

The place where Jews lived was called "Judeca", and was located in the back and low in the country. "

Jews in Brancaleone

The term Giudecca identified the old Jewish quarter of the city of Reggio Calabria. Many and varied are the sources and archaeological finds which testify to the existence of a Jewish community in the city.The ancient Giudecca stood near and outside the city walls to the north of the city, where now there is the area between the street Biagio Camagna , the Corso Garibaldi and the Via Fata Morgana . La Giudecca , being outside the city walls , was connected with the mainland through the "Gateway Anzana ."The Jews had developed industries ,were established in the city of Giudecca , had a synagogue and a school , worked , dyed silk, and had a print shop. In 1475 the commentary on the Pentateuch Isaacide Solomon was printed , through the work of the printer Abraham, Isaac Garton . The Jews distinguished themselves in another activity , rearing of silkworms and ,in conjunction with this , there was the import of the mulberry tree . Their silk was so excellent, with the changing hues of indigo and pink , which was in demand throughout the European continent and beyond.

HISTORY OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY REGGINA

Via giudecca

  Many of them were from Spain, especially at a time when, with the edict of March 31, 1492, Fernando and Isabella had expelled all Jews from the domains of the crowns of Aragon and Castile. Arrived in Reggio, they developed a feverish activity aimed at raising flood defenses,   modernizing and upgrading the towers of the walls to oppose the ferocity of the barbarians and their weapons, working with Reggini in fortifying the city. It was during this period that  the first printing were created, so the Jewish publishing became more and more popular with the transcription of the most important texts of Scripture.

It was in this context that the Republic of Genoa and Lucca conspired openly at the Spanish authority against the Jews, having an outlet for silk from Reggio,  created problems to their interests, until in agreement, with the Viceroy De Cardona, obtained from the King a decree of expulsion from all over Calabria. They were forced, therefore, due to the severe penalties against infringers, to go away, and come out on July 25, 1511.

It came to light in a workshop in Reggio Calabria in 1475, at exactly twenty years from that one printed by Gutenberg. A precious rarity preserved at the Biblioteca Palatina in Parma.

THE FIRST IN HEBREW BIBLE PRINTED IN

CALABRIA

Presented by:Roberto Battaglia

Catalano Francesco