Jewish Itineraries in Syracuse: the Synagogue and the Ritual Baths

The identification, in 2001, through an archival document, of the synagogue of the Jews of Syracuse with the current church of St. John the Baptist has posed the need to the authors of this volume to clarify the history of the other church of St. Philip the Apostle in the Giudecca, erroneously considered in the past to be the synagogue of the Jews. This thorny and complex issue can be clarified for the first time in this volume, which reveals ambiguities and errors caused by the mystery of the church that was never a synagogue and the synagogue which was converted into church. The book presented here is a formidable work that is a cross between a tourist guide and a highly scientific textbook, which, however, remains accessible and an easy read. Guided by its authors the reader will find this tour extremely interesting, learning to distinguish between documentation and its reception, historical fantasy and the rigour of documented reality, and between interested claims for documents to present a truth which someone desires and strict submission to the unique historical meaning of dusty papers and fragile archive documents. (from the Presentation by Mauro Perani)