The Jewish Ghetto

The Jewish ghetto is located between the Via Provenzali and the Via Malagodi. It is possible to reach the inner courtyard from a long corridor on the street Provenzali, in front of the house bearing the same name. In Cento there was a very active Jewish Community since the beginning of the 14th century, which gave birth to an important commercial trade dealing mainly with hemp. Jewish people lived in the typical houses of the Ghetto since 1636. The only monumental building worth mentioning is the elegant Palazzo Modena in Neoclassical style (1820). Unfortunately the synagogue was destroyed, but rests of it, like a beautiful baroque Aron in polychrome marble, are housed inside the synagogue of Ferrara. Outside the town lies the cemetery, opened in 1818, but used before this by the Jews of Cento. It is reached along a road lined with cypress trees that crosses a large field before entering through the cemetery's high boundary wall.