La Juderia
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La Juderia (Ladino: לה ג׳ודיריה) was the former Jewish quarter of the city of Rhodes, Greece. The quarter was inhabited by Sephardic, Ladino-speaking Jews.
Although there has been a Jewish presence of some sort on the island of Rhodes for nearly 2,000 years, the inhabitants of La Juderia did not arrive until the 16th century, after they were expelled from Spain. In the Jewish quarter La Juderia, six synagogues operated, including the Kahal Shalom Synagogue, as well as yeshivas, and the Jews were involved in all crafts, including trade, medicine, weapons manufacturing, weaving, and more. In 1927, a rabbinical seminary was established on the island with the support of the Italian government. The Jews of Rhodes prospered until the persecutions of Italian Fascism began in the 1930s, and at its peak the population of the Jewish quarter was more than 4,000.
