About 570 words

Layla walked along the Grand Canal. The Santa Lucia train station was just behind her as she made her way toward the Jewish quarter. The Ponte dei Scalzi, Bridge of the Barefoot, was on her right. Named for the Church of the Barefoot Monks, Layla passed it without looking up, weaving her way along the sinuous cobblestone street. In Campo San Jeremiah, the back of the church housing the relics of Santa Lucia towered in the piazza, while the apse of the church rose majestically on the Grand Canal. From the Campo she found the Salizada of San Jeremiah, a short walkway leading to the bridge of Spires. Ten masks- mascheroni - of contorted faces aligned on each side of the bridge, protected those walking over it.

After crossing the small bridge on foot, she would be in the Ghetto Vecchio, the district where the old foundries poured metal for cannons 500 years earlier. The metal casting factories had ceased to exist for over a century. The area now was full of bakeries, shops and small homes stacked one on top of another. She hated the smell of this side of the city. Murky water smelled of rot and the wooden balconies sagged with age. The calle, or narrow streets, were dark and lined with crumbling houses. She preferred the other side of the Grand Canal, where there was a constant intersection of paths past tightly packed houses perched on the water that lapped at the doors during high tide. Brightly lit shops lined the way to the gold-domed Cathedral of San Marco occasionally opening into spacious plazas before narrowing into another calle, barely wide enough for two people to walk shoulder to shoulder. Gossiping, laughing people crossed the Bridge of Sighs just in sight of the sweeping Venetian lagoon.

Layla studied her feet on the cobblestone. It was impossible to penetrate the dingy neighbourhood. She thought her mother had been unwise to come here. Had she stayed in Sant'Anna, they would all be together. Layla zigzagged left, then right, she passed the Ponentina and Levantina Synagogues which led her path to the square with thin, scattered trees growing in between cobblestone. The inhabitants stayed in their houses, opening their doors for no one. Layla twisted her thin brown hair in a knot out of frustration. She was neither very hot nor cold, but she could not stand anything touching her right now. Anything but the voice of her mother was a distraction. Once in the square, Layla turned to see the five large arched windows on the front of a simple synagogue with a small dome. An inscription read, in memory of the destruction of the Temple, next to it stood Father Ignatius in black with his familiar white collar. He held a folded piece of a paper and looked, smiling, at Layla.

Attached below are notes on the research for this exercise in both Italian and English. The second paragraph of this excerpt is from the exercise – put a character in a setting. I combined the two pieces in the third paragraph.

La zona del ghetto già a quel tempo si presentava come al giorno d’oggi: una piccola isola, circondata da canali, i cui accessi avvengono solo tramite due ponti. In corrispondenza di questi, un tempo, c’erano dei robusti cancelli, che venivano chiusi e sorvegliati di notte, poiché agli abitanti era permesso uscire dal quartiere solo di giorno e con appositi segni distintivi. Se fate attenzione, ancora oggi, si possono vedere i fori dove affondavano i cardini dei cancelli. a circa 5 minuti a piedi dalla Stazione dei treni Santa Lucia. Provenendo dalla stazione è possibile accedervi attraversando Ponte delle Guglie e girando subito a sinistra in Fondamenta San Giobbe. Dopo circa 50 metri si imboccherà il Sotoportego del Ghetto, sulla destra. thought to either have been built by French Ashkenazi Jews Called the hidden synagogue, the Canton Synagogue can only be partially seen from the Campo of the Ghetto Novo Le sinagoghe sono l’anima del ghetto.

Collocate alla sommità di edifici preesistenti risultano difficilmente riconoscibili dall'esterno, mentre all'interno si rivelano piccoli gioielli. The Ponte degli Scalzi^[1] (or Ponte dei Scalsi, in Venetian; literally, "bridge of the barefoot [monks]"), is one of only four bridges in Venice, Italy, to span the Grand Canal.

The bridge connects the sestieri of Santa Croce and Cannaregio. On the north side, Cannaregio, are the Chiesa degli Scalzi (Church of the Barefoot or Discalced Monks) and the Santa Lucia (Ferrovia) railway station. The south side is the sestiere of Santa Croce.

Designed by Eugenio Miozzi, it was completed in 1934, replacing an Austrian iron bridge. It is a stone arch bridge.^[2]

Ponte degli Scalzi is located close to the site of construction of the fourth bridge over the Grand Canal, popularly known as Ponte di Calatrava although it was formally inaugurated as the Ponte della Costituzione. Construction was delayed in part due to controversy over its modern style, but the basic span was finally in place on August 11, 2007, and the bridge was opened for public use on September 11, 2008. This bridge is closer to the bus station than the Scalzi bridge. A carved balustrade runs on either side of the walkway, and gargoyles decorate its arch. It is the only bridge in Venice adorned with spires from whence it takes its name ("Bridge of Spires").

For those arriving on foot from Piazzale Roma or the Venezia Santa Lucia railway station, the bridge leads into the area of the Venetian Ghetto and the Strada Nova that leads to Piazza San Marco.

L’antica funzione dei mascaroni era quella di spaventare e allontanare i demoni maligni o addirittura il diavolo. Per questo venivano collocati sulle chiavi di volta degli archi dei portali, sia negli edifici laici che in quelli religiosi.

La Scola Italiana, sorta nel 1575, è la più semplice delle sinagoghe veneziane, risulta però essere la più luminosa, grazie a cinque ampie finestre che si aprono sul lato del campo, e la più austera in virtù dell’assenza dei toni sfavillanti della foglia d’oro che orna le due sinagoghe ashkenazite.

Built in 1575, last in order of time of the Synagogues constructed under the Venetian Republic, it is clearly recognizable from the outside by the five big arched windows similar to those in the Scola Grande Tedesca, and the small baroque dome over the apse. On the wall there is a crest with the inscription: «Holy Italian Community in the year 1575 », and a small inscribed tablet «in memory of the destruction of the Temple ». Near the entrance the inscription is repeated « Holy Italian Community ». A small portal and very narrow stairs lead into the Synagogue which is less ornate than the others; this is almost certainly a proof of the modest economic conditions of the Community observing the Italian rite.