2016, the Jewish Ghetto of Venice will celebrate its 500th anniversary. Venice was considered a hub of Jewish culture over the centuries, with its ghetto being home to a flourishing international Jewish community. In order to properly mark this anniversary, the international organisation Venetian Heritage, in cooperation with Maison Vhernier, has organised the temporary exhibition Lost Treasures of the Jewish Ghetto, which is to be presented at the Winter Palace from 28 April to 6 July 2014. Although created as a site of segregation, the Venice ghetto developed into a place of encounter for numerous groups of Jews from different countries and into an important source of inspiration for Jewish culture in many other regions around the globe. From 1516 to 1797 – almost over three centuries – a community of various ethnical backgrounds (Germans, Italians, Jews from East and West) coexisted in Europe’s most tolerant town. In 1943, a number of precious objects were hidden by the Nazis. These valuables had then fallen into oblivion, until they were unearthed during the restoration of the Scola Spagnola several years ago. The show illustrates the richness and beauty of practiced Jewry until destroyed by National Socialism; it also keeps track of the conservation of the objects before they were stolen and their recent rediscovery.

For more details see: Belvedere Winter Palace