Rome Jewish tours

This walk looks at two neighborhoods of Rome that have traditionally been home to cultures outside of the power-wielding majority: the Jewish Ghetto and Trastevere.

Our walk covers the Ghetto itself and the history of the Jewish community in Rome (the oldest in Europe). When possible we will visit the Synagogue and its museum.

We also visit such notable sites within the Ghetto as Portico d'Ottavia, Piazza Mattei, and the kosher restaurants and Jewish-owned businesses that give the area its character today.

We will cross to the Tiber Island, which, according to some theories, may be where the first activity of Rome as a city took place. We will spend some time discussing the river and some of the noteworthy monuments in the vicinity include the remains of the Ponte Rotto and the travertine "prow of Aeneas' ship" embedded into the island.

We then cross over into Trastevere, one of the most characteristic neighborhoods in Rome.... ...

The Jewish Catacombs of Vigna Randanini were discovered in the 19th century on the Appian way. They are one of seven known complexes utilized for Jewish burials. Today they are closed to the public and may only be visited with special permission.

These catacombs, like their more famous Christian and pagan counterparts, are a series of underground burial galleries with tombs carved into the soft volcanic stone of the area.

The deceased were interred in painted loculi, cubicula, and kokhim. The presence of the kokhim set these catacombs apart from Rome's pagan and Christian catacombs. They were deep chambers in which the deceased would be buried perpendicular to the wall. The openings were sealed with marble epitaphs.

The Vigna Randanini complex is also novel for wide corridors, its predominance of Latin and Greek inscriptions and absence of Hebrew and Aramaic... ...

Escape Rome's crowds to explore parts of the historic center that most tourists don't get to visit. You'll enjoy a leisurely stroll through the fascinating Jewish Ghetto and Trastevere area, Rome's more traditional districts, accompanied by your knowledgeable guide.

Your guided tour of Rome's little-known jewels Trastevere and the Jewish Ghetto starts at Largo Argentina and the Senate House, where Julius Caesar was murdered. Your tour concludes three hours later at lovely Campo de'Fiori, the site of executions during the Inquisition and today one of Rome's liveliest piazzas.

On this entertaining and enlightening walking tour you will get a chance to see parts of the ancient city hidden below the modern street level. Rome certainly wasn't built in a day, so you'll see other periods in between, from Medieval to Renaissance and Baroque.

Your Rome-ophile guide will share their enthusiasm for these hidden parts of the city, entertaining you with the legends and secrets of Rome's most authentic neighborhoods and their cafés, synagogues and churches. You'll broaden your experience of Rome with a visit to areas most tourists don't visit, and be able to ask questions right on the spot about their history and significance.

All tour guides are native English-speakers or Roman archaeologists, hold university degrees in teaching and the humanities, and adhere to the highest standards of education... ...

Enlist the services of a specific docent in the Context Travel network for a customized, private tour of whatever it is in Rome you would like to explore—Jewish or otherwise. Tours can last from an orientation walk of 2–3 hours to hiring a private guide for three days. Context docents in Rome include archaeologists and philosophers, Byzantine scholars and art historians... ...