The Jewish Cemetery

In 1386 the Piovego Magistracy granted the Jewish community in Venice an area next to the Benedectine monastery of San Nicolò; 3 years later this area became a cemetery. The earliest conserved gravestone, that of Samuel Ben Shinshon, dates from 1389 ( 5150 in the Jewish calendar). The graves, permanent according to Jewish custom, still remain in an atmosphere of romantic peace created by the dark green of the cypress trees and the ancient toms, a piece which enspired the XIX century poets Goethe, Byron and Shelley and, more recently, Giorgio Bassani in his Giardino dei Finzi Contini.