The Jewish Ghetto of Nicastro

Upon examining certain documents in the state archives of Naples, we can affirm with certainty that the Jews imbued Nicastro with their very important social and economic role. Detested and pursued, victims of persecution, but also wooed by communities as well as by bishops who contended for the considerable taxes that they had to pay, the Jews were a determining presence in Nicastro society for some centuries. As seen in the records of the Angevine chancery, in 1276 the Jews of Nicastro, along with other communities in Puglia (Brindisi, Nardo’, Melfi, Taranto), in Campania (Naples, Sorrento, Amalfi, Salerno) and in Calabria (Monteleone, Nicotera, Seminara, Reggio, Gerace, Cosenza, Acri, Bisignano, Castrovillari, Rossano) paid a subsidy for the distribution of new coins from the mint of Brindisi. These taxes were called “Jewish duties.”

The collection that the Jewish community paid the court is recorded in the taxatio generalis subventionis in justitiariatu Calabriae (1276) (general tax records of Calabria). Fouteen such levies are recorded. The most important of these—that is the largest—was that of Crotone (taxed for 19 ounces, 12 tari, and 12 grana---old Neapolitan units of currency). Next were Reggio, Castrovillari, Bisignano, Monteleone, Cosenza, Nicotera, Nicastro (which paid only 3 tari and 12 grana), and other lesser communities. Also in 1278 the Jews of Nicastro appear on the general tax levy of the governing administration of Calabria for half of their annual subsidy of 4 tari and 6 grana.

The Confluence of the Streams Niola and Canne

The Jewish ghetto of Nicastro, which arose around a small synagogue between the streams Barisco and Canne, grew over the years within the Timpone quarter of the city. The choice of the site was not only for the exigencies of security, but above all to precise ritualistic requirements since the Jews considered sources of sweet water as sacred places, used for ritual purification by immersion. In Semitic culture, sweet water is considered favorable to man, in contrast to seawater, and this gave negative connotations to places of habitation by the sea. The Jewish Ghetto of Nicastro, besides being bounded by two streams, also yielded certain springs that guaranteed a necessary supply of water.

It was precisely because of the abundance of available water that it was possible to create the “miqweh,” that is the receptacle for ritual purification (the so-called “bath of the ghetto”). The ritual bath was reserved exclusively for the women who were required to purify themselves after every monthly period, as well as on the eve of their wedding and after childbirth. Even the men submitted themselves to a purifying bath in appropriate tubs (which are still visible). During the summer, and also during other seasons when the average temperature permitted it, the bath of purification was made by direct immersion in the stream. These ritual practices were also important from a hygienic standpoint, and we can assert that hygienic services were better developed in the Jewish ghetto than in the rest of the city. This is evident from the lower mortality rate among the Jews of the ghetto, and by the scarcity of epidemics there, such as the cholera that used to recur in the city.

The tiny synagogue, which faced southeast towards Jerusalem, was made of the same humble materials as all the houses. It was not immediately apparent as a place of ritual, but instead blended in with the modest structures around it. In that sense, even in the construction of their buildings, the community and its synagogue constituted a single body of all the Jews in the Timpone quarter. If on the outside the synagogue was as simple as its surrounding houses, with their rough facades so as not to generate envy among the Christians, the inside was splendid and ornate, with decorations and magnificent sacred furnishings. It had two large entry doors: the larger for the men and the smaller for the women. In a corner there was a small oven used exclusively to produce unleavened bread that the whole community consumed at Easter time. It was placed inside the synagogue to ensure that it never be used for foods containing leaven.

In a lower area not far from the stream there was a butchery used according to prescribed rituals for the slaughter of cattle to be consumed by the Jews in the ghetto. Regarding this practice, there is an edict by Pope Pius II in 1459 (which was confirmed by successive popes until the late 1700s) that prohibited the Jews from selling meat to Christians that had been slaughtered in that way. Eventually, the meat that the Jews considered ritually impure came to be sold at reduced prices to Christians, even though there was a special tax levied on it. In a space adjacent to the synagogue there was a small Jewish cemetery.