Azzurro Napoli: Memory and Identity at the Old Jewish Cemetery – Guided Tours
Sunday guided tours of the Old Jewish Cemetery of Poggioreale, as part of the May of Monuments program
About Azzurro Napoli
An unusual site in the heart of eastern Naples
In the Poggioreale district, within the 4th Municipality of Naples, a little-known gateway to the city's history opens for a few Sundays each year: the Old Jewish Cemetery on Via del Cimitero Israelita, at the corner of Via Aquileia. Normally closed to the public, this silent enclosure is opened for the "Azzurro Napoli: Memory and Identity at the Old Jewish Cemetery" guided tour series, promoted by the Center for Jewish Studies of the University of Naples L'Orientale, in collaboration with the Jewish Community of Naples and the Association for the Protection of the Old Jewish Cemetery (APS), with the patronage of the City of Naples and the 4th Municipality.
The history of the Old Jewish Cemetery
The cemetery was established in 1865 and inaugurated in 1875, after the land was purchased by the Rothschild family and the then-president of the community, Isidoro Rouff. It stands as one of the most eloquent testimonies to a long and interrupted history: Jews had been expelled from Naples between 1510 and 1541, and the community was only able to officially reconstitute itself in the 19th century, following the Unification of Italy. The cemetery thus preserves the memory of a reborn community, looking simultaneously toward the Mediterranean and Central Europe.
Among the tombs: families, languages, and migrations
The cemetery houses about eight hundred burials, featuring 19th and 20th-century funerary monuments with inscriptions in Italian, Hebrew, French, German, and Yiddish. The visit reveals a surprising human geography:
- Central European pioneers who arrived in Naples in the 19th century;
- Italian Jewish families who settled after the Unification;
- Sephardim who arrived from Thessaloniki after the great fire of 1917;
- Groups from Smyrna and the Ottoman world;
- Surnames that recur along the paths — Ascarelli, Foà, Levi, Recanati — reflecting the Neapolitan bourgeoisie of the time.
A plaque also commemorates the fourteen Neapolitan Jews killed during the Shoah: the visit is therefore not just an architectural itinerary, but also an exercise in civic memory.
Azzurro Napoli: football as a key to understanding
The title of the tour is no coincidence. Resting in this cemetery is Giorgio Ascarelli, the Neapolitan Jewish entrepreneur who founded the Associazione Calcio Napoli in 1926 and to whom the city's first stadium was named. The "blue" (azzurro) thread of football thus becomes a way to tell the city's identity to a wide audience: a place of Jewish worship and memory reveals itself, unexpectedly, as a junction of popular Neapolitan and national history.
A cemetery to be saved
After decades of neglect and vandalism, the monument is now at the center of a restoration program carried out by the Association for the Protection of the Old Jewish Cemetery APS with the "Bayit lechaim: a home for life" campaign, dedicated to stone consolidation and site accessibility. The contribution requested for the visit is entirely donated to restoration work: participating means making a concrete contribution to the preservation of the site.
Part of the May of Monuments program
The tours are officially included in the May of Monuments, the major cultural festival that enlivens the City of Naples and the Campania region every spring with hundreds of events spread across all Municipalities. The 2026 edition, the thirty-second, took place from May 2 to June 2 with the theme of the colors of Naples and the title "Drunk with light, mad with colors," inspired by Matilde Serao. In this context, the Old Jewish Cemetery represents one of the most unique and least touristy destinations in the entire program.
Azzurro Napoli — edition 2026
Four Sundays in May
In 2026, the guided tour series took place on the Sundays of May 3, 10, 17, and 24, starting at 10:30 AM from the entrance on Via del Cimitero Israelita, at the corner of Via Aquileia, in Poggioreale. The initiative was promoted by the Association for the Protection of the Old Jewish Cemetery APS together with the Jewish Community of Naples and the Center for Jewish Studies of the University L'Orientale, within the official program of the 2026 May of Monuments of the City of Naples.
The blue centenary
The guiding theme of the edition was explicitly football-related: one hundred years after the founding of the Associazione Calcio Napoli in 1926 by Giorgio Ascarelli, his burial site became the starting point to tell a little-known piece of local and national history. Alongside the tours, the Association Memoriae – Museum of the Shoah, the Jewish Community of Naples, and Nico Pirozzi organized the photographic exhibition "Ascarelli. A name and a 150-year-long history" at the Fondazione Banco Napoli, at Via dei Tribunali 213.
A contribution for restoration
Participation, upon mandatory booking, required a minimum contribution of 10 euros entirely destined for the cemetery's restoration work, a monument long marked by neglect and now at the center of the "Bayit lechaim: a home for life" campaign.
Programme Azzurro Napoli 2026
2026 Guided Tour Schedule
- Sunday, May 3 — 10:30 AM, Old Jewish Cemetery, Via del Cimitero Israelita (corner of Via Aquileia)
- Sunday, May 10 — 10:30 AM
- Sunday, May 17 — 10:30 AM
- Sunday, May 24 — 10:30 AM
The Itinerary
- Introduction to the cemetery's history: foundation in 1865, inauguration in 1875, land purchase by the Rothschild family and Isidoro Rouff
- 19th and 20th-century funerary monuments and inscriptions in Italian, Hebrew, French, German, and Yiddish
- Historical families of the community: Ascarelli, Foà, Levi, Recanati
- The tomb of Giorgio Ascarelli, founder of the Associazione Calcio Napoli in 1926
- The plaque dedicated to the fourteen Neapolitan Jews killed during the Shoah
- The site's conservation status and ongoing restoration work
Related Event
- Photographic exhibition "Ascarelli. A name and a 150-year-long history," curated by the Association Memoriae – Museum of the Shoah, the Jewish Community of Naples, and Nico Pirozzi — Fondazione Banco Napoli, Via dei Tribunali 213, from May 10 to June 5 (excluding Saturdays and Sundays), free admission without booking
Highlights Azzurro Napoli 2026
- Extraordinary opening of a site usually closed to the public in the Poggioreale district
- The tomb of Giorgio Ascarelli in the year of the Calcio Napoli centenary
- About eight hundred burials and funerary monuments from the 19th and 20th centuries
- The languages of the cemetery: Italian, Hebrew, French, German, Yiddish
- The memory of the fourteen Neapolitan Jews who were victims of the Shoah
- Photographic exhibition "Ascarelli. A name and a 150-year-long history" at the Fondazione Banco Napoli
- Visitor contributions directly fund the cemetery's restoration
Prices Azzurro Napoli 2026
Practical information — Azzurro Napoli
Location
Old Jewish Cemetery, Via del Cimitero Israelita 22 (corner of Via Aquileia), Poggioreale district, 80143 Naples.
How to get there
The area is served by the Naples Central/Piazza Garibaldi station, just a few minutes away by bus or taxi: from the station, reach Poggioreale by following Via Nuova Poggioreale. By car, take the Corso Malta exit on the ring road; street parking is possible but limited on weekdays due to the presence of offices and the nearby monumental cemetery.
Booking and contribution
Booking is mandatory: you must write to [email protected], attaching a photo of an identity document. A minimum contribution of 10 euros per person is requested, entirely donated to the cemetery's recovery and restoration work.
Tips
The tour takes place outdoors on paths and uneven ground: comfortable shoes, a hat, and water are recommended. Men are required to keep their heads covered, as is customary in Jewish cemeteries. Tours start promptly at 10:30 AM.
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