REPORT – The excavations of one of the oldest synagogues in the country are ending in this former papal territory.
Special envoy to L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue
The fence is recent, but the entrance is marked by a sumptuous centuries-old gate. Arriving, we distinguish a dozen tombs which confirm that it is indeed a cemetery. However, on the rest of the ground, there is only grass and trees. Until the French Revolution, Jews were not allowed to mark their graves. They had no right to live and had to hide to die. So they survive. In the Vaucluse, the town of L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is working to highlight their little-known heritage. In the city center recent preventive excavations have just been completed (1).
The cemetery was the subject of a study ten years ago and has never been officially closed, even if the last burial dates back to 1939. However, it is impossible to know the number of people buried in this place, and for lack of stelae, we do not even know when it dates. “The…
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