22 miles west of Venice, on the Bacchiglione; capital of the province of the same name. With a continuous Jewish presence since the 11th century, Padua was the only university city in Europe to accept Jewish students in the school of medicine (since the 15th century). Corso Savonarola synagogue existed as early as about 1300. The Italian synagogue of 1548 still survives and the Spanish rites synagogue of 1617 is now used as a lecture hall. The 1548 Italian synagogue at 9 Via San Martino e Solferino houses the Community offices. The prayer room Ark and Bimah face each other. The old Talmudic Academy building is now a hotel. Jewish history. [January 2009]
Two ancient cemeteries. Source: The Jewish Travel Guide , 1992. Published by the Jewish Chronicle-London.
Tombs of illustrious rabbis on pilgrimages, such as Rabbi Meir Katzenellenbogen (1482-1565), are found. The cemeteries, with the exception of the oldest, which was laid out in 1386, are all in existence. In the second one, which was established in 1450 and was used for a century, the body of Isaac Abravanel of Venice was interred in 1509; but the graves and stones were destroyed in 1509, so that his tomb can no longer be identified. Quite recently (1904) the congregation erected in the center of the burial-ground a stone in his memory. From 1530 onward the Jews owned a cemetery in the Borgo degli Ebrei, in which was erected the tomb of R. Meïr Katzenellenbogen and of his family. Another burial-ground was established in 1653, and still another in 1754 (according to some, 1774). The present cemetery beyond the Porta Euganea was opened in 1864. It contains the grave of S. D. Luzzatto.[January 2009]
Via Campagnola:
Via Codalunga (near Bastione della Gatta). Issac Ben Yehuda Abrabanel, Minister of Finance for King Alphonse V of Portugal, is buried here.
Via Isadora Wiel:
Via Pietro Canal:
Via Soria 124: San Leonardo- Jewish cemetery dates from the 17th century.