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Pitigliano

Approaching Pitigliano in southern Tuscany is different from other Tuscan hill towns, like Siena or Volterra, which you see from a distance perched on their hill tops. Just when you are wondering where it is, Pitigliano hits you in the face; you round a bend, and there it is - a grey/brown vertical cliff face thrusting upward from a deep green ravine. The cliff face and the houses of the town on top form a continuous vertical stone surface at the edge of the precipice.

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Pitigliano has been inhabited from the earliest times; there are Etruscan remains in and around the city, and many of the town's  buildings date from the cinquecento (1500's) and even earlier. Like many of the towns in Tuscany, a Jewish community flourished there from this time -  although now there are only three Jews left in the town.  The synagogue was rebuilt in 1995, and forms part of the ghetto known as "La Piccola Gerusalemme" (Little Jerusalem). You can visit the synagogue - it is still in occasional sabbath use or for special occasions (you can get married there) - together with the cellar where kosher wine was kept, the ritual bath, the kosher butcher, and the matzo bakery.  

June 11, 2009 in Italy | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)