Heart of Italy Jewish Interest tour

Friday, Day 02 – ARRIVAL BOLOGNA AIRPORT - "Benvenuti in Italia!" Welcome to Italy! Our base for the 07 nights will be Bologna. Upon arrival, you will be transferred to your Hotel.

Afternoon guided tour of Bologna. Enjoy the city’s numerous Baroque, Gothic and Renaissance palazzo. Spend time at the beautiful Piazza Maggiore. Few squares in Italy are more animated and endlessly fascinating than this piazza. Throughout the day it is the setting for play, conversation, music, parenting, romance, and discourse. As in most of the region, nothing in Bologna is done to appeal to what is perceived to be “tourist’s” taste. In this regard, it will give you a much more palpable sense of what real life is like in Italy than you will find in Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome or Naples, which is yet another reason that Bologna deserves to be visited as often as possible.

You will also walk through the ancient Jewish neighborhood (Note: Bologna never had a ghetto for the simple and beautiful reason that Bologna has throughout its history been tolerant toward Jewish tradition and its involvement in Bolognese daily life)

Saturday, Day 03 – Full day at leisure in Bologna, free time to relax, drink a cappuccino and watch Bologna life go by at some central piazzas.

Bologna is one of the most overlooked gems in Italy, one of the most architecturally unified in Europe - a panorama of sienna-colored buildings, marbled sidewalks, and porticos. Located at the crossroads between Venice and Florence and surrounded by hills, Bologna provides the best of several worlds; it has beautiful piazzas, churches and museums, as well as being a thriving university town, filled with cafes, bars and nightlife. The bars, cafes, and squares fill up with students, and an eclectic mix of concerts, art exhibits, and avant-garde ballet and theater performances always marks the calendar.

This afternoon, why not going to Parma for a guided tour of this wonderful city (optional). Parma is connected with the Farnese family, who gave the city (and Italy) the taste for architectural and artistic beauty; with the Bourbons who gave the grandeur of the Spanish court, and with Marie Louise, the passion for music.

Jews had lived in Parma in medieval times, but they were expelled in the 16th century. The community did not develop again for more than two hundred years, and it reached its high point in the late 19th century. The Jewish community that lives in Parma today is a small one, and the synagogue is only used for worship on special occasions.

The most precious Jewish treasures in Parma constitute the extraordinary collection of Jewish printed material and illuminated manuscripts held in the Biblioteca Palatina, or Palatine Library. The more than 1,600 bibles, prayer books, talmudic commentaries and other ritual texts date back to the 12th century and comprise one of the world’s greatest collections of such material, second only to the Jewish manuscript collection at the Bodleian Library at Oxford.

Sunday, Day 04 – BOLOGNA – Parmigiano Cheese Factory / Balsamic Wine Estate / MODENA - Morning visit of a Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese factory in the vicinity of Bologna, with tasting.

Then, continue on to visit a traditional Balsamic wine estate “Aceto Balsamico” Culinary, rustic, lunch at the Balsamic wine farm estate, where you will taste the local produce.

Stop briefly in Modena, where a monumental synagogue that stands today in Piazza Mazzini was built between 1869 and 1873 and, like other synagogues of the period, was intended as a celebration of Jewish emancipation. It features a Neoclassic façade and a sumptuous interior with an enormous hanging chandelier, numerous arches and an elaborate cupola that appears to float above a round sanctuary lined by Corinthian columns. A women’s gallery with a graceful balcony extends around the entire space. The focal point is the Ark, placed in a niche surmounted by a huge arch and decorated with false marble.
Oddly enough, the sweep of Jewish history in Modena has been immortalized in the name of a man who actually was born and spent most of his life in Venice and only made a few fleeting visits to the town of his ancestors: Rabbi Leon Modena, born in 1571, was deeply immersed in the social, cultural, religious and intellectual life of Jews in northern Italy during the Renaissance. He has become a towering figure in Jewish memory thanks to a fascinating autobiography that he worked on almost until the day he died in 1648.

Dinner on your own.

Monday, Day 05 – VENICE - Full day excursion to Venice, city of romance and fantasy which invites you to discover her fascinating treasures. Walk through the Jewish Ghetto for a comprehensive visit of the sights. Venice was the first city in Europe to establish a ghetto in 1516, an entirely new form of persecution of the Jews. Venice permitted the building of five separate synagogues, some of them lovely structures, built by the followers of various rites. Two were established by Italian Jews, one by German, one by Spanish, and one by Levantine Jews. Venice owes much to her Jewish sons and daughters. When the ghetto gates were destroyed by Napoleon in 1797, the Jews entered into the life of their city. When the Venetian Republic was proclaimed in 1848, Daniele Manin, son of a converted Jewish family, became president. Manin has been described as “one of the purest and bravest figures in the history of Italian liberalism”. It is interesting also to note that Venice has three churches named for Old Testament patriarchs, St. Job, St. Moses, and St. Samuel, a record among Italian cities. This custom is derived from Byzantium where churches were dedicated to Old Testament patriarchs and prophets, who were endowed with honorary sainthood by the church. Time permitting you will visit the main synagogues which are part of the guided tour of the Ghetto.

Tuesday, Day 06 – FLORENCE - Full day excursion to Florence, in which, upon arrival, you will enjoy a half day sightseeing of Florence, a city of artistic wealth and beauty, which holds many treasures for you to discover.

Follow a tour of Jewish interest sites. Nothing remains of the ancient ghetto of Florence which was demolished to make way for the present Piazza della Repubblica and the Piazza dell’Olio. However, the Via Ramaglianti of today is the former Via dei Giudei (Street of the Jews). The Arch of the Piazza della Repubblica has an inscription which reads: “The ancient center of the city - was restored from old squalor to new life.” On the synagogue grounds there are several small buildings which house various communal institutions: the Hebrew school and mikveh, the Holocaust memorial in the garden, the Jewish Museum.

Time permitting you will visit the Great Synagogue on via Farini, built between 1874 to 1882 across the ancient Jewish burial grounds. Its construction was made possible by the bequest of Davide Levi, a former president of the community, who willed his entire estate for the building of “a monumental synagogue becoming to Florence”. The synagogue, large and in a Moorish style, is decorated in the interior with frescoes and Venetian mosaics. During WWII it was heavily damaged by mines placed in the pillars before the German retreat. The synagogue was restored with the help of the government.

Wednesday, Day 07 – FERRARA - Full day excursion to Ferrara, once the capital of the dukes of Este. The Jewish community of Ferrara was one of the most flourishing and important in Italy, and it gave to Judaism a number of prominent men. It would seem that Jews existed at Ferrara in 1088, but not until the thirteenth century was their number large enough to give them a status in history. In 1275 an edict was issued in their favor, with a clause providing that neither the pope nor the duke nor any other power might relieve the authorities of their duties toward the Jews.

Thursday Day 08 – BOLOGNA - Full day at leisure in Bologna for your own discovery and some shopping at the very colorful boutiques in town. We suspect that you’ll enjoy very much shopping in this city, as Bologna is very centered towards design, innovation and beauty.

At leisure, why not spend your day immerging yourself in the culinary delights of the region? Take part of a morning cooking demonstration of different kinds of pasta (Ravioli, Tortelini, Lasagne, etc…).

Continue on to an Olive Oil mill en route to Bologna, where you will learn the exciting intricacies and traditions in making Olive Oil of the purest quality; Life, after such knowledge, will never be the same! (Oil tasting of three different types, accompanied with snacks).

Or, stop in Verona, in which, upon arrival, you will enjoy a half day sightseeing of the town of the eternal lovers Romeo and Juliet. Verona has retained its medieval character completely and is a true gem of northern Italian architecture. One of the key attractions is the 14C Capuleti Palace with Juliet's famous balcony & the third largest surviving amphitheaters of the Roman World: the enormous Arena, which was constructed with massive pink marble blocks, dates to the end of the 1C.

Friday Day 09 – BOLOGNA / USA – 'Arrivederci', a nostalgic goodbye but a promise to return. Today our representative and motor coach will be ready to take you to Bologna Airport for your flight …,

NB! The sequence of the itinerary is subject to change depending on local conditions and in concomitance with the opening hours of the various sites included in the program.

- Guided visits of: Bologna, Venice, Florence, Ferrara (w/ entrance fees where listed on itinerary);

- English speaking Tour Manager throughout for group or private guide for individuals

Interested in trying out the local cuisine but not sure where to go? We have selected for you a series of local restaurants where you can experience the wonderful cuisine of the heart of Italy: Emilia Romagna! Each region in Italy is known for its local specialties. Why not try some of the local pasta specialties like tortellini or tagliatelle, the famous cured Ham – “Proscuitto di Parma” accompanied by melon or fresh figs, or taste the local balsamic vinegar on a variety of foods from antipasti to desserts. Have you tried it on fresh strawberries? Delicious!!

Your booklet of coupons contains 5 special “dine around” coupons and a list of restaurants in Bologna that you can choose from. Make your dining experience a memorable one, no fuss, no stress.