A document preserved in the monastery of Santa Caterina attests to loans made by Jews in Cingoli as early as 1296. The Jewish community prospered between the 13th and the 14th century, as Jews mastered the wool trade.
Though Jews could not be part of the “Arte della Lana” guild, they excelled in weaving and dying wool. The last name Tintori (dyers) derives from this activity.
During the same period, a Jew, recorded in the documents as Benedetto, was called to Cingoli to start a money lending business. His partners were Dattilo di Angeletto and Abramo.
In 1566, following the Bull of Pope Paul IV, the Jews were forced within the walls of the ghetto, located in the district of San Giuliano, between today’s Vicolo del Torrione and Via Orazio Avicenna. While no trace of the synagogue remains, popular tradition indicates that it might have been in Spineto, which was later the residence of the last abbess of the convent of Santa Caterina. As the town fell under the Popes’ regime, Jews were restricted to selling used clothes and eventually the community moved on to larger cities.
