Pitigliano and the tufa towns

Pitigliano ancient Etruscan stronghold of probable origne, is also known as "Little Jerusalem" for the historical presence of a Jewish community. Surrounded on three sides by ravines, full of caves carved into the tufa, in the sixteenth century belonged to the small county ruled by the Orsini Counts between the Grand Duchy of Tuscany and the Papal State. In 1556 Nicholas IV Orsini, who was in favor of the Jewish presence in its territory, gave his personal physician, the jew David de Pomis, a plot to build a Jewish cemetery. In 1598 the synagogue was built. In 1608 the County of Pitigliano was joined to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany in 1622, the Medici established the Ghetto. In the nineteenth century the town became ¼ - 1 / 5 of the population earning so, the Community of Livorno, the nickname "Little Jerusalem". With the unification of Italy in 1861, obtained the emancipation, many Jews left to reach Pitigliano: Livorno, Rome, Florence ... In 1938 the Community had about 70 people and because of the racial laws further diminished. During the persecution of the Second World War, about 30 Jews who remained in Pitigliano were helped and saved by Catholic families who hid and protected them in the countryside. With the collapse of the synagogue took place in the 60's, hope to have a rebirth of the Jewish community went out, and now there are still, unfortunately, only a few units. Pitigliano is certainly a city unique for the particularity of being built entirely on a tufa rock, this makes it one of the most interesting area of the tuff. Going from State Route 74 also known as the "Maremma", it has been the unusual image of a country with houses jutting from a large outcrop of tufa strapiombo.La Legend has it that the name derives Pitigliano because of two Roman (Petilio and eyelashes), who after stealing the gold crown from the statue of Jupiter in the Capitol, fled to Etruria and took refuge here, where now stands the city of Pitigliano.La Roman city was, until the ' advent of the Lombards.

Pitigliano Sorano and Sovana together under the Aldobrandeschi family, was a fortified triangle. Then passed to the Orsini, enjoyed a period of splendor, as witnessed by the Orsini palace.
Starting from the XIV century. many families were Jewish, fled from Rome, found refuge in Pitigliano, where he was forming a Jewish community. The charm of the small and narrow streets of the old Jewish ghetto culminates in the jewel of the synagogue, restored in 1995 after years of neglect. But the rest of the ancient city was restored starting in the 80s since, following the abandonment of the war, was slowly crumbling and about to be left to his fate, as judged by some administrators and pericolante.Solo few families left in Pitigliano share the restoration, restoring the beautiful town of tuff admiration of thousands of tourists every year go there to visit the beauty not only historical but also natural.