The Jewish Museum of Rome is located in the Great Synagogue monumental complex. Walking across the different rooms you can see a reconstruction of Jewish life in Rome since the earliest settlement in the second century before the Common Era.
The Jewish community has been living continuously in Rome for 2,200 years, making it one of the oldest communities outside of Israel. The exhibits on display in the museum date back principally to the ghetto period (1555-1870) and all come from the original ‘Five Synagogues’ building. The rich collection includes liturgical furnishings, manuscripts, incunabula, historical documents, records and marble works. Since 1960, the museum displayed its treasures in a single room, but the study and cataloguing of all the works required a larger display area. The new exhibit was inaugurated in 2005. The museum covers an area of 700 square meters and unfolds through seven rooms with different themes. It offers a reconstruction of the Jewish people life in Rome and shows us how they managed to integrate into the socio-economic structure of the city, while they maintained their own identity.
