  thumb|upright 1.5|the main square of the venetian ghetto. the venetian ghetto was the area of venice in which jews were compelled to live under the venetian republic. it is from its name in italian ("ghetto"), that the english word "ghetto" is derived: in the venetian language it was named "ghÃ¨to". the venetian ghetto (incidentally, the first ghetto) was instituted in 1516, though political restrictions on jewish rights and residences existed before that date.weiner, rebecca. "the virtual jewish history tour" link: http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/venice.html#the%20ghetto ==etymology==  the english term "ghetto" is an italian loanword, which actually comes from the venetian word "ghÃ¨to", slag, and was used in this sense in a reference to a foundry where slag was stored located on the same island as the area of jewish confinement.definition on etynline.com an alternative etymology is from italian borghetto, diminutive of borgo âboroughâ.the new oxford american dictionary, second edition, erina mckean, oxford university press, isbn 0-19-517077-6 ==location and geography== thumb|ponte de gheto novo the ghetto is an area of the cannaregio sestiere of venice, divided into the ghetto nuovo ("new ghetto"), and the adjacent ghetto vecchio ("old ghetto"). these names of the ghetto sections are misleading, as they refer to an older and newer site at the time of their use by the foundries: in terms of jewish residence, the ghetto nuovo is actually older than the ghetto vecchio. ==culture== thumb|right|the levantine synagogue. though it was home to a large number of jews, the population living in the venetian ghetto never assimilated to form a distinct, "venetian jewish" ethnicity. four of the five synagogues were clearly divided according to ethnic identity: separate synagogues existed for the german (the scuola grande tedesca), italian (the scuola italiana), spanish and portuguese (the scuola spagnola), and levantine sephardi communities (the scola levantina). the fifth, the scuola canton, was a private synagogue for
Antisemitism_in_Italy Geography_of_Venice History_of_Venice_after_1797 Italian_Jewish_communities Jewish_Italian_history Jewish_ghettos_in_Europe Republic_of_Venice