Shabbat Walking Tour in Rome

A Shabbat walking tour of Rome, built for the one day of the week when every museum door in the Jewish quarter is shut.

That is the practical problem this tour solves. Observant guests arrive in Rome, and Saturday is the day the Synagogue, the Jewish Museum and the ticketed sites are all closed to them. The alternative on offer is usually to lose the day.

How it is arranged

Everything happens outdoors and on foot, from the outside. No tickets, no turnstiles, no cameras, nothing to carry and nothing to settle on the day — the tour is paid for before Shabbat comes in, so that Saturday itself stays clean.

Three hours, at walking pace, in a wide circle around the ancient centre. You look at the monuments from the street, which is all the Roman Jews ever did with most of them anyway.

What the guide talks about

The commentary is drawn from traditional Jewish sources rather than from the standard archaeological script. The Arch of Titus and the Colosseum are read against the accounts of the destruction of the Temple; the ghetto is read against the papal bulls that created it; the Campidoglio against the humiliations the community was made to perform there during Carnival.

Roman Jews have been part of this city since before the Empire, and they neither hid nor assimilated — they left public synagogues, stone epitaphs and marble sarcophagi behind them. The walk follows that refusal through two thousand years of it.

Practical information

• Duration: about 3 hours, private, on foot
• Payment is settled in advance, before Shabbat
• Interiors are not entered and tickets are not used. Everything is seen from outside
• Comfortable shoes, and water in summer. There is a great deal of walking and very little shade
• Kosher meals and a kosher-friendly place to stay can be arranged around it — see the private kosher chef and kosher accommodation in Rome

For what you will be looking at, read Jewish Rome and the Jewish Ghetto of Rome beforehand. On a weekday, the interiors are covered by the ghetto, Museum and Synagogue tour.

Questions people ask

What is there to do in Rome on Shabbat?
This tour exists precisely because the Synagogue, the Jewish Museum and the ticketed sites are all closed on Saturday. Everything here happens outdoors and on foot, seen from the street — which is how Roman Jews looked at most of these monuments anyway.

Is it suitable for observant guests?
It is built for them. No tickets, no turnstiles, no cameras, nothing to carry and nothing to settle on the day: the tour is paid for before Shabbat comes in, so Saturday itself stays clean.

How long does it last?
About three hours, private, at walking pace, in a wide circle around the ancient centre.

What does the guide talk about?
The commentary comes from traditional Jewish sources rather than the standard archaeological script: the Arch of Titus and the Colosseum read against the accounts of the destruction of the Temple, the ghetto against the papal bulls that created it.

Can we see the interiors another day?
Yes — on a weekday the ghetto, the Museum and both Synagogues are covered by the three-hour ghetto tour.