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| Jewish Cemeteries / Acqui Terme Casale Monferrato Moncalvo Nizza Monferrato Trino Vercellese Acqui Terme Cemetery: Via G. Romita 31 Acqui, city of ancient foundation, whose origins go back to the Roman age, was very flourishing in the Middle Age. In the 17th century, during the wars of succession of the Monferrato between Savoia and Gonzaga, the Jews were 150 among a total population of approximately 3000 inhabitants. In the 1800's the Jewish population reached the 700 people, but decreased to 200 in 1899. Nowadays no more Jews live in Acqui. In 1768 the old cemetery had no room for more interments, thus the State allowed the Jews to acquire a land plot from a private. The purchasers for the Community were "Samuel Vita, Gioseppe Salvator son of Israel, Salvador son of Belomo, Zaccaria Salvadore and Anselmi, all five Ottolenghi of the Ghetto of this City". Since then this plot of ground, encircled from mulberry trees, accommodates the mortal rests and the vestiges of an important Jewish past. Some of the tombstones are decorated with funerary symbols not related to the Jewish tradition, i.e. partly veiled urn of clear classic inspiration. Back to the Top Casale Monferrato Cemetery: (old) via F. Negri 10; (new) via Cardinal Massaia In Casale, two cemeteries still exist, while there are some testimonies that attest the existence of two other “lawns of the Jews” near Piazza Statuto and Porta Milano. In the Community’s archives is conserved a list from the fist years of the 19th century, which records 200 burials in the old cemetery of Via Negri, first used in 1732. In the middle of the field an evocative stacking of tombstones with partially corroded writings in Hebrew can be found; next to it, probably existed a little temple the plans of which have be found in the Archives. Still around 1930 some Jews have expressed the desire of being buried next to their grandfathers in this old cemetery. In 1893 was reached a Convention with the municipality, relative to an hectare of land where persists the present cemetery of via Cardinal Massaia. In the middle of the lawn, you can see a small temple planned by Enrico Bertana and Lorenzo Rivetti; on the inner walls numerous inscriptions in Hebrew from the Psalms can be found. This squared shaped cemetery records the first interment in 1904. Back to the Top Moncalvo Cemetery: along the road to Alessandria In the middle of the Monferrato’s hills, equallly distant from Asti and Casale, Moncalvo can be found, rich of vineyards, agricultural market and very competed fort. After the furniture of the synagogue was transferred in Israel in 1950, the Jewish presence was alive only as a distant memory. In Jewish-Piedmontese dialect was said “at mande tùt a batacain” "everything sends you to the bet ha-chaim, to the cemetery", and the old cemetery, still in use, is placed on the provincial road for Grazzano with a bucolic view on Crea. Inside, the most ancient graves date from 1700; the epitaphs send back to the local families: Luzzati, Sacerdoti, Foa and Norzi, today the only Jewish family still living in Moncalvo. The oldest part, constituted by ten graves, is very evocative, encircled by big trees. In the new area, no less touching with its simplicity, forty people are buried. Back to the Top Nizza Monferrato Cemetery: Strada Ponte Verde 5 The ancient Jewish cemetery was found outside the built-up area, near the Belbo torrent, along today's road to Canelli. The present cemetery is a small section into the communal one. A rectangular shaped cemetery, closed by a gate; its interments are arranged in a horse-shoe shape. Even if there aren’t many interments, the Jewish cemetery of Nizza Monferrato is a significant example of how the Jewish funerary decorations between the 1800's and the 1900's was permeated by a strong religious syncretism. Among the simple tombstones, stands out for its remarkable visual impact a family tomb in baroque style, placed in axis with the entrance. Equally sumptuous, in its decorative choice, is a monumental tomb supported on its angles from four carved lions. The Jewish cemetery has been recently restored thanks to the participation of the cultural association of Nizza Monferrato "L’Èrca", as a small slab placed at the entrance remembers. Back to the Top Trino Vercellese Cemetery: Via Cesare Battisti Trino, important agricultural and industrial center of the Vercelli’s plain, counts today nearly 9000 inhabitants. Records of the Jewish presence attest the existence of a ghetto where in 1761 35 people lived. In 1839, the Jews were 53, and their number increased to 100 in 1880; from then a gradual but constant reduction of their number can be seen. The community grew thinner and thinner until it was extinguished and integrated into the Torino commuity before WWII. As a witness of the settlement remains the little Jewish cemetery of via Cesare Battisti, with its long hedge, the ancient tombstones immersed in the green and the simple arc in Moresque style containing an evocative tombstone. Back to the Top
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