Museo Ebraico di Bologna and the Former Ghetto

The Museo Ebraico di Bologna is housed in Palazzo Pannolini on Via Valdonica, in the heart of the former Jewish ghetto of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The museum opened in 2016 and tells the story of Jewish life in the city across about two thousand years, from ancient and medieval presence through the period of moneylending and learning, when Jewish scholars and physicians were linked with the university, to the expulsions of the 16th century. In 1555 Pope Paul IV's bull Cum nimis absurdum ordered the confinement of Jews in the Papal States into ghettos, and in 1569 Pius V expelled them from Bologna, with a ghetto established again only briefly in the late 16th century. A smaller community returned after the Napoleonic period and became fully emancipated with Italian unification. The museum's multimedia displays use maps, documents, objects and audiovisual material to present these periods in a chronological route, with attention to everyday religious practice, family life, and the printing and manuscript traditions linked to Bologna. Rooms also recount the racial laws of 1938 and the deportations of the Second World War. The building itself is a 15th-century palace, partly rebuilt, with an interior arranged for modern display; outside, the streets of the former ghetto still show traces such as the plaques and the sites of the gates, which can be followed on a short walking route. The museum works as a cultural centre, with temporary exhibitions and educational programmes, and it is linked to the Jewish community of Bologna. Opening times follow the Jewish calendar, so it is closed on Saturdays and on Jewish holidays, with shorter hours in July and August. Tickets cost EUR 7 or EUR 5 for reduced rates, with free entry for those under 6, and the last entry is 45 minutes before closing.