“From Bari will come forth the Torah and the word of the Lord from Otranto””
Jews in Apulia are documented at least since the Roman imperial period: this makes the Adriatic region one of the oldest Jewish settlements of the whole Western European diaspora. According to the Sèfer Yosippòn (Book of Joseph), a Hebrew chronicle possibly composed in Puglia in the 10th century, after the destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem (around 70 CE), "Tito brought about five thousand deportees to Taranto, Otranto and other cities in Puglia.”
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Credits
Texts: Fabrizio Lelli and Fabrizio Ghio
English translation: David Katan
Hebrew translation: Shuni Lifshitz
Photos: Fabrizio Lelli and Fabrizio Ghio