Located at the foot of Mount San Bartolo, on a slope facing East, the Jewish Cemetery bears witness to the centuries-old presence of a Jewish community in the city of Pesaro. Across the centuries, this community played an important role in shaping the cultural, civil and economic identity of the city and its surroundings.
The cemetery was created at the end of the 17th century by a particularly thriving and numerous community, increased in number by the arrival of some families from Ancona (who were forced to flee their neighborhood after it was destroyed in a big fire) and from Portugal. Another proof of the importance and prosperity of the local Jewish community is also demonstrated by the construction of a Sephardic synagogue in the ghetto of Pesaro.
The sacred area measures approximately 6,700 square meters and it is located along a terraced slope close to the sea. Its entrance is directed towards Jerusalem. Inside, more than 150 funeral monuments are still visible today, although it is assumed that the area included many other graveyards which were not signaled with a gravestone or a memorial stelae, as this depended on the financial situation of the deceased’s family.
The area can be divided into three sections. The upper one corresponds to the oldest section of the cemetery and contains numerous vertical stelae and cylindrical gravestones, engraved with inscriptions and decorations. In the central part, complete sepulchral monuments are proof of a more classical taste. The lower part of the Jewish Cemetery is the most recent one; in here, Romanesque and nature-inspired shapes and decorations prevail.
