Renaissance synagogues being restored in Venice’s Jewish ghetto

The interior of the 1528 Great German Schola Synagogue in Venice (Chris Warde-Jones/AP)

Venice’s Jewish ghetto is considered the first in Europe and one of the first in the world, and a new effort is under way to preserve its 16th-century synagogues for the Jews who have remained and tourists who pass through.

For nearly two years, restorers have been peeling away paint and discovering the original foundations of three of the ghetto’s synagogues, which are considered the only Renaissance synagogues still in use, art historian David Landau said.