This may become a true love story to you, like it has for me. You are initiating your trip to Pitigliano, a small Italian village, located south of Florence and North of Rome. For me, the beginning of my personal trip was on October 15, 1995, reading an article in the newspaper "Corriere della Sera"
To get to Pitigliano (Video from "Made in Italy"-RAIUNO), you need to find the city of Orvieto in the A1 route, and drive 52 km west of this point, to where this ancient village arises. The zone is known as the land of the Bianco di Pitigliano, one of the best white wines of Italy.
Pitigliano sits in the southern limit of the beautiful Tuscany"La Piccola Gerusalemme" got his name both from the ancient medieval landscape of the village (that remembers the beloved Jerusalem) and the wisdom of this jewish community, that once brought to the area many cultural and social advances (including the Jewish University of Pitigliano, which was founded in the community's flourishing days).
For Jews in general, and Israelis in particular, Pitigliano presents a tribute to ancient Jewish culture and life. It is also an historic landmark that remembers and honors the strong and warm relationship and links between the Jewish minority of Pitigliano (called once "la Nazione Ebrea" for hundred of years), and the people of Pitigliano. This strong relationship of respect and admiration has been kept long after the almost complete disapperance of the Jews from Pitigliano; it is known that during the Holocaust, people of Pitigliano and sorroundings risked their lives to hide and save Jews that were scaping from the Nazi terror.
It is hard to believe that in fact, today remains at Pitigliano only three Jews from what once was a strong and mumerous Jewish community. One of them is Mrs. Elena Servi.
She guards the tales and stories of the almost disappeared Jewish community of Pitigliano, Elena Servi and Riccardo Pivirotto (a young local archeology) have taken i upon themselves to bring forth the story of the Jewish Community of Pitigliano (10% of the population in the best days) so future generations may be able to learn it, and so that such important part of the history of Pitigliano and the Jewish people may be remembered throughout the times.
Pitigliano stands for many things such as a memorial to mutual compression and respect between two different peoples and the way each people contributed to the village's economy and development. Prove of these events can be seen in the way the village has cared to maintain and use the physical heritage of the one grandiose Jewish Community, a heritage that has remained part of the village since the events of 1799 (the italian version of the events) .Restoration and reconstruction the important Jewish sites took place in Pitigliano. Places such as the Synagogue, the "Forno di Asimo" (the Kosher oven) and the Jewish Cementery have been restored to look the same as they did two centuries ago.
Nowadays, beautiful individuals like Elena Servi, Franco Paioletti, Riccardo Pivirotto, Prof. Angelo Biondi, Roberto G. Salvadori, Daniel Vogelmann (Editrice La Giuntina) and others (most of the non-Jews), working alone or together with institutions like the Communal Administration of Pitigliano, the Rotary Club and La Banca di Credito Cooperativo di Pitigliano, have raised the challenge of reviving "La Picolla Gerusalemme" so that every visitor, from the casual tourist up to the historic investigator, can become part of such unforgettable experience. Signor Augusto Brozzi, the former Major of Pitigliano and the late Signor Ernesto Celata worked hard in order to preserve the Jewish Historic Patrimony of Pitigliano. They raised founds from the Tuscany Administration and the local budget and they rebuilded the main buildings of the antique ghetto, like they have done with the Synagogue and the Forno di Asimo.
Even if history and tradition are not what you are looking for, come to Pitigliano to enjoy the ambiance and to taste "il Bianco di Pitigliano" and the fine food of the zone, to be astonished by the beauty of the landscape, and to meet friendly people. Furthermore, in spite of being a secular Jew myself, the fact that I found a Kosher version of this fine white wine, made me feel like I had come to a place where any jew in the world could call home. Pitigliano and its people are waiting for you... come and enjoy them.
Creating this site is the first way I found to pay tribute and say thank you to the wonderful people of Pitigliano, chistians and jews, both past and present. For you, fellow countrymen, and invitation to visit this part of the world , to pay tribute to fine human beings, and to enjoy a great experience enriched with traditions, history, excellent food and wine, breathtaking sightseeing, and new friends.
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