Remnants of the Jewish Quarter of Castrovillari, Calabria, and Some Other Points of Interest

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. Street sign which maintains the name of the pre-1511 Jewish "Giudeca" (quarter). Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. The pre-1511 Jewish "Giudeca" (quarter). Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. Adjacent to the pre-1511 Jewish "Giudeca" (quarter). Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Remnants of the Jewish Quarter of Castrovillari, Calabria, and Some Other Points of Interest

by Samuel D. Gruber

Calabria, the region of Italy that extends from the instep of the peninsula to the toe, and from the mountains to the sea, has a long and rich Jewish history-- from the period of ancient Rome through the early 16th century when Jews were expelled after the territory came under Spanish rule. Despite an absence of nearly half a millennium, echoes of the Jews can still be fond in place names throughout Calabria documented by Sonia Vivaqua; such as Monte Giudei, Casale Giudeo, Acqua Judia, Judio Sottano, Judio Suprano, and other designations remembered long after the passing of the Jews. 

This summer I was in Calabria for a week with family members, not especially seeking out Jewish remnants. Still, we took a short trip from where we were staying to the town of Castrovillari to see the remnants of the Jewish quarter of the old town, an area still remembered in the street names indicated by numerous street signs.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. Street sign of an alley off the main Giudeca, which maintains the name of the pre-1511 Jewish quarter. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. The last Jews in Castrovillari? Here are my siblings Frank and Ruth Ellen Gruber pausing for a photo op. It was at least 40 degrees (over 100 Fahrenheit), so sun and shadows were intense. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. An alley off the main Giudeca, which maintains the name of the pre-1511 Jewish quarter. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

The Jewish community was expelled in 1511 and deeded their synagogue to the city. It was located in the Portello quarter, and as far we could learn there is no trace of it today. It wasn't clear that the Jews were leaving for good. There was a clause in the transaction (which is quoted in full in Latin in  Cesare Colafemmina, The Jews in Calabria (Leiden: Brill, 2012, p. 493) that stated that the synagogue would be returned if the Jews came back. The expulsion order came from above, and in the transaction, the Jews maintain (truly or not) that they had been well-treated by the city.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. Street sign which maintains the name of the pre-1511 Jewish "Giudeca" (quarter). Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. The pre-1511 Jewish "Giudeca" (quarter). On the right is the entrance to the Palazzo Salituri alla Giudeca. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. Off the main Giudeca. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

The Aragonese Castle

It was King Ferdinand of Aragon (and his wife Isabella) who expelled the Jews from Spain, and then in  the early 1500s also from the Spanish territories in Southern Italy, where the Aragonese has taken over the Kingdom of Naples and asserted control over the Dukes of Calabria. Beginning around 1460 they constructed a series of castles to control internal dissent and as protection against Mediterranean pirates. In Castrovillari the new castle was built on the site of an older Swabian fortress and was completed in 1490 (as is explained in an inscription over the entrance) at the behest of King Ferdinand of Aragon. The Calabrian castles, all of which have similar or identical inscriptions, were designed according to the precepts of the famed architect-engineer Francesco di Giorgio Martini, who worked at the court of Naples in the 1490. 

Though Francesco di Giorgio is better remembered by art historians for his work in Siena, Milan, and elsewhere, his legacy across Southern Italy is fearsome.  From 1495 to 1995 the Castle was used as a prison, and the building has a long, dark and bloody history. It was long known as a terrible center of torture and death. Restored in 2011, it is now it is a concert and exhibition venue. For more on Franceso di Giorgio's military architecture in Southern Italy see Michael S. A. Dechert's article, "The Military Architecture of Francesco di Giorgio in Southern Italy," in the Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Vol. 49, No. 2 (Jun., 1990), pp. 161-18.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. The Aragonese Castle, completed in 1490, long a place of torture and death, but now a center for music and art. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. The Aragonese Castle, completed in 1490. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Memorial to Victims of Allied Bombing of August 24-25, 1943

A fascinating and sad reminder of more recent history is a memorial to Castrovillari civilians who were killed in an Allied bombing raid on Aug 24-25, 1943, several weeks before the main invasion of Southern Italy (Allied forces would eventually enter Castrovillari on September 12, 1943 when  Montgomery's British XIII Corps reached the town). 

The monument consists of one standing wall of a building across from the facade of the Church of San Giuliano, on the edge of the Giudeca. A simple plaque lists the names and ages of those killed in the bombardment. 

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. Memorial to Victims of Allied Bombing near San Giuliano, of August 24-25, 1943. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

These deaths, what we would now call euphemistically "collateral damage," are hardly even a footnote to World War II, and I've had trouble finding details about this raid. But an unclassified chronology compiled in 1945 by the Military Intelligence Division of the War Department has this to say for the Italian front August 24, 1943: "Twenty-four A-36's each simultaneous attacks on Sapri, Castrovillari, and Sibari; at first target, a tunnel blocked and tracks damaged; RR yards and buildings at second hit; an enemy cruiser off Sapri is set on fire." Presumably it is the "buildings" mentioned, in which the civilians of Castrovillari perished. Amazingly, it seems the church of San Giuliano, located across the little square, was not hit - though it is likely there has been much reconstruction in the area.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. Memorial to Victims of Allied Bombing near San Giuliano, of August 24-25, 1943. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Castrovillari (Calabria), Italy. Memorial to Victims of Allied Bombing near San Giuliano, of August 24-25, 1943. Photo: Samuel Gruber 2019.

Jewish-Heritage-Europe.eu reported in 2014 about the creation of a new “Charta delle Judeche della Provincia di Reggio Calabria” (Charta of the Jewish Quarters of the Province of Reggio Calabria). While there are many new websites devoted to Jewish locations in Italy, there is still precious little published or online about Calabria. We rely heavily on the work of the late Cesare Colafemmina, mostly now collected in his massive The Jews in Calabria (Leiden: Brill, 2012), issued the year of his death.

Also mentioned in this post is the 1994 paper by Sonia Vivaqua  “Gli ebrei in Calabria,” in Architettura Judaica in Italia: ebraismo, sito, memoria dei luoghi (Flaccovio Editore, Palermo, 1994), 257-268. Rabbi Barbara Aiello has been active in bringing contemporary Jewish practice to Calabria, but I have not seen evidence of much associated deep history.  Calabria - and much of the Italian south - is still wide open for serious researchers.