It’s believed that the Jews lived in town since the 13th century, but the first official documentation attesting to their presence in Florence dates to 1437, when the Republic called upon a group of resident Jews to restructure their “banchi” (banks) in order to take over the indispensable function of lending money, thereby saving Christina bankers-and their souls-from damning sin of usury.

We’ll begin our journey with the most exquisite artistic evidence of the complex relationship existing between the Jewish and Christian culture: Ghiberti’s Porta del Paradiso, illustrating the famous chapters of the Tanach in its ten carved panels. We’ll proceed to piazza della Repubblica, the former site of Florence’s Jewish Ghetto. we’ll move on to the crowning glory of the city’s Jewish community: the Grand Synagogue, hailed as one of the most beautiful in Europe and its interesting Museum of Hebraic Art & Culture