User:Jayanbuedu/Venetian Ghetto
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jews were compelled to live by the government of the Venetian Republic. The English word ghetto is derived from the Jewish ghetto in Venice. The Venetian Ghetto was instituted on 29 March 1516. It was not the first time that Jews in Venice were compelled to live in a segregated area of the city.[1] In 1552 Venice had 160,000 inhabitants, including 900 Jews, who were mainly merchants.[2] The residents were quite ethnically diverse and spoke several languages.
In 1797 the French Army of Italy, commanded by the 28-year-old General Napoleon Bonaparte, occupied Venice, forced the Venetian Republic to dissolve itself on 12 May 1797, and ended the ghetto's separation from the city on 11 July 1797. In the 19th century, the ghetto was renamed the Contrada dell'unione.