page_title: History of the Jews in Florence
section_title: Modern history
hierarchical_section_title: History of the Jews in Florence / Modern history
caption_attribution_description: Italian&#58; Fonte_del_Mercato_Vecchiolabel QS:Lit,"Fonte_del_Mercato_Vecchio"
context_page_description: The history of the Jews in Florence can be traced over nine hundred years. Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. The Jews of Florence have one of the oldest continuous Jewish communities in Europe. The historic Jewish community in Florence is one of the largest and one of the most influential Jewish communities in Italy. The Jewish community in Florence also serves the smaller neighboring Jewish communities in Pisa, Livorno, and Siena.
context_section_description: In 1799, emancipation came to the Jews of Florence from Napoleonic forces who occupied the city. In 1848, the ghetto was abolished and the Jews of Florence were given civil rights under a new constitution. By 1861, the Jews were given full citizenship and the ghetto was leveled to make room for urban renewal. The Great Synagogue was built in 1882. In 1899, the Collegio Rabbinco Italiano (Rabbinical College of Padua) was relocated to Florence. Ashkenazi Rabbi, Samuel Hirsch Margulies became the principal of the college where he remained until his death in 1922. Rabbi Margulies was an ardent Zionist and was very popular with the young Jews of Florence. Other notable Rabbis of Florence during this era include: Riccardo Pacifici, Tzvi-Peretz Hayot, and Israel Zolli.
caption: Ghetto of Florence, T. Signorini, 1882
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