Rome: Trastevere and Jewish Ghetto half-day tour
Travel back in time and explore the history of the Jewish Ghetto in Rome, in the charming Medieval enclave of Trastevere. Your guide will lead you down narrow alleys to get a feeling for this fascinating side of the city, which still retains its village feel and special character to this day.
It all starts with the legend of the Piazza del Gesu,' named after the 16th-century Church of Jesus. Look inside to marvel at the wonderful ceiling frescoes. Then, go to Piazza Mattei to see Taddeo Landini’s masterpiece Turtle Fountain (Fontana delle Tartarughe). Down an adjoining alley, you will find the colonnaded Portico d'Ottavia, built by Augustus in the name of his sister, Octavia Minor some time around 27 BC.
Next, admire the magnificent façade of the Great Synagogue of Rome, where Hebrew symbols memorialize those sent to the concentration camps in the 1940s. Walk over Fabricio Bridge to Tiber Island to see the site of the 3rd-century Temple of Aesculapius and learn how the island was used as the city’s hospital and center of healing.
Continue to Ponte Garibaldi for picturesque views over Tiber Island and the River Tiber, before ending at the Campo de' Fiori, once the liveliest and roughest Medieval and Renaissance square of Rome. A statue of the philosopher Giordano Bruno sits in the center, at the exact point where he was burned alive for suggesting that the earth moved around the sun.
