Project

“‘If culture is a primary asset of humanity, just like water and air, then the digital context must be understood as an indispensable platform for the exchange of knowledge and relationships between individuals.’

[from Manifesto della Public History of Education, key point 6, 2022]

The Go Jewish Go project was implemented by the Jewish Community of Trieste between 2023 and 2025 thanks to the Small Project Fund – SPF GO! 2025 of the Interreg VI-A Italy-Slovenia Programme 2021-2027 and is one of the initiatives of GO! 2025 Nova Gorica Gorizia European Capital of Culture.

From June to November 2024, the first part of the project took place: the training course for authorised guides from Friuli Venezia Giulia and Slovenia, dedicated to an in-depth study of the Jewish tradition and the history of Jewish places in our territory. In particular, the course focused on culture, religion, history, music and cuisine and was organised by Dr. Gloria Pilastro of the Jewish Community Museum of Trieste “Carlo and Vera Wagner”, where the lectures were held, under the supervision of curator Dr. Annalisa Di Fant and coordinator Rav Ariel Haddad. 

The guides visited places where we still find material evidence of Jewish communities: Gorizia, Nova Gorica, Stanjel, Gradisca d’Isonzo, San Daniele del Friuli.

To visit these places with the guides, click here.

The second part of the project began with historical research on the Jewish sites in the area and the drafting of texts to be used for Augmented Reality. Thirteen points were chosen and enhanced with Augmented Reality by the staff of Ca’ Foscari University Venice, in particular professor Fabio Pittarello and doctors Tommaso Pellegrini and Alessandro Carrieri. Through the free and multilingual GoJGo application, anyone can learn more about the history of a part of the local cultural heritage that knows no boundaries: in Gorizia the Synagogue, Via Ascoli, Casa Ascoli, the house of Carolina Luzzatto, Via Rastello; in Nova Gorica the Jewish Cemetery of Rožna Dolina and the tomb of Isaac Samuel Reggio; in Stanjel the graves of Jewish soldiers in the former military cemetery of the First World War; in Gradisca Via Petrarca, where there was the Synagogue and where Abraham Vita Reggio studied, and the Jewish Cemetery; in San Daniele del Friuli Piazza Cattaneo and the Jewish Cemetery.

AR IN TRIESTE

With regard to the inclusion on the GoJewishGo website and app of the same name of 13 graves in the Jewish Cemetery of Trieste, the project was carried out in two phases.

The first phase was historical research by Tommaso Chiarandini, within the framework of a research grant carried out, with the Web and AR Designer consultancy of Alessandro Carrieri, at the Department of Humanistic Studies of the University of Trieste (Rector’s Decree no. 172/2022). 

The second one was actually implemented, in collaboration with Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, by Alessandro Carrieri and Tommaso Pellegrini under the supervision of Fabio Pittarello, as part of a project financed by the Autonomous Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia (Decree no. 26348/GRFVG dd.28.11.2022 ex art. 7-ter, L.R. 20/83).

Project stages

• Historical research and translation of texts.
• Inspections of the sites to be enhanced with Augmented Reality (AR), a useful tool that allows anyone to learn about the history of those places
• Creation of the app and the site supporting the AR.

Next: AR in the Jewish Cemetery in Trieste and the Jewish calendar through Virtual Reality.

Acknowledgements

The Jewish Community of Trieste and the ‘Carlo e Vera Wagner’ Museum, in particular Annalisa Di Fant and Rav Ariel Haddad

Marco Dorigo, Bethany Gaunt, Sieglinde Kofler, Isabella Sagues, Ivana Sarazin, Boris Štrukelj

Isanna Bonoris, Gloriana Candusso Bevitori, Davide Casali, Lorenzo Drascek, Manuel Figheli, Rav Ariel Haddad, Giorgio Linda, Rav Alexander Meloni, Pietro Sponton, Giulia Groppazzi

Fabio Pittarello, Alessandro Carrieri, Tommaso Pellegrini – Ca’ Foscari University Venezia

All the guides who took part in the course and Promoturismo FVG

The staff of the GECT GO / Osebje EZTS GO