The Jerusalem Post - A visit to Friuli-Venezia Giulia

Cividale del Friuli - A picturesque mountain town

The Devil's bridge in Cividale

The Devil's bridge in Cividale

To enter Cividale you have to cross the Devil's Bridge, a tall, narrow structure that stands above the Natisone River and together creating a dramatic and beautiful scene.

This small town was founded by Julius Caesar in 53 BCE and then called Forum Julii - hence the name Friuli. It's strategic location led various civilizations to meet and clash here over the centuries. Cividale was ruled by Rome, the Lombards, Franks, dukes and patriarchs of Aquileia, Venetians, Austrians and finally Italians since 1866.

Though not more than 11,000 inhabitants live in Cividale, it has several piazzas, a large cathedral, many churches, palaces and a number of museums . You can visit the Celtic caverns - artificial caves known to have been used by the Romans and Lombards as a prison but probably built originally as a Celtic graveyard in the 3rd century. You can also see a headstone with Hebrew letters cemented into the arch of Porta San Pietro.

Apart from the headstone in Porta San Pietro and a couple of tombstones in the archeological museum, there are no Jewish monuments to be found in today's Cividale. Still there was a well-documented Jewish presence in the town between the 13th and 17th centuries.

The statutes of Cividale, dated 1321, stated that Jewish residents of the town were protected by the city government and that it was forbidden to offend them. A contract between the Jewish community and the city authorities dated 1349 guaranteed the Jews respect for their identity, way of life and religious habits, allowed them to work as money lenders, to run a synagogue, and to hire servants and non-Jewish wet nurses.

Times were harder for the Jews of Cividale when the town came under Venetian rule in 1420. The most recent document concerning the town's Jews, dated 1603, tells about one Jacob Belgrado who was authorized by the city government to set up a bank for 20 years. In exchange, the authorities demanded a 3,000 ducat interest free loan for a period of 10 years.

Apparently Mr. Belgrado declined this offer.

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