From Centuries-old Squalor: The Ghetto of Florence, from History to Virtual Life. Introduction to the Ghetto Mapping Project

For more than two hundred years the ghetto of Florence was the center of Florentine Jewish life. Established by Cosimo I in 1570 (probably to follow the dictates of Pius V, the Counter-Reformation pope who had granted him the grand ducal title), the ghetto was set in the very central area of ‘Mercato Vecchio’. In 1888, a few decades after the Jews had been socially emancipated and given full political rights, the ghetto was demolished. This essay presents the first results of the Ghetto Mapping Project. On the basis of a comprehensive survey of the Medici archives, this on-going research project aims at reconstructing the architectural, economic, demographic, and historical features of the old Florentine ghetto.