THE STORY OF THE VENETIAN GHETTO IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. A VIRTUAL HERITAGE DIGITALLY REVEALED
ALESSANDRA FERRIGHI*
"The fall of the Venetian Republic occurred in the spring of 1797. It was followed by a very brief first French occupation, lasting from May 12th, the day on which the Great Council abdicated and handed over power to a democratic Commission, to October 17th, and the signing of the Treaty of Campoformio, under which Venice was ceded by Napoleon to Austria7. These few months saw the promulgation of a series of decrees aimed at the renovation of Venice, which Napoleon hoped to transform into a modern city, importing many changes to its civil, religious and social arrangements. Notable among these are: the reduction in the number of parishes and the suppression of the religious orders, the equality of all citizens before the law, the abolition of noble titles and an end to the segregation of the Jews in the Ghetto. A Municipal decree dated July 7, 1797 (or 19 Messidor, according to the French Republican Calendar) declares as item 1 that three «Jewish Citizen Deputies» should be elected, and as item 5 that «The gates of the Ghetto should be removed forthwith, so that there be no separation between these and the other citizens of this city»...."