Micaela Pavoncello was born in Rome to a Jewish Roman father, proud to be in Rome since the time of Caesar, and a Libyan Jewish Sephardic mother. She is married, has three sons and is a proud member of the Jewish community of Rome.
In 2003 Pavoncello founded Jewish Roma Walking Tours. “I started Jewish Roma to share the great history of my unique community. We are not Ashkenazi nor Sephardi and nobody knows about us. For the last 20 years I have been educating visitors from all over the world about our tradition and minhag,” she said.
When Pavoncello founded Jewish Roma Walking Tours it was the only company that offered classical tours of the Eternal City with a uniquely Jewish perspective and unique insight into Roman Jewish life. The company offers a range of classic tours of Rome, encompassing history, art and more. Participants learn about the presence of one of the largest and most culturally significant Jewish communities outside of Israel.
Participants can choose from among several tours, including city tours of Rome, the Ghetto and Jewish Museum, the Coliseum, Roman Forum and Titus Arch, Jewish Vatican Tour, Ostia Antica Synagogue, the My Selection Tour (where Pavoncello takes visitors to sites that not even Romans know), the Jewish Catacombs, the ancient Roman aqueducts and the Baths of Caracalla, the cruise combination tour, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon and Piazza Navona and lively art-filled squares like Piazza Barberini tour, evening walking tour in Rome, the Zoom virtual tour and more.
As added services. Jewish Roma Walking Tours also offers private drivers, accommodations, kosher restaurant bookings, private kosher chefs, kosher babysitters, kosher meals/catering, Shabbat meals and prepaid Shabbat walking tours. The kosher restaurants are supervised by the Jewish community of Rome mashgichim.
Tour guides are authorized by the Jewish Museum of Rome, well educated in art history and passionate about the intersection of Roman and Jewish cultures that come together in the city. All tour guides are Jewish. And of course, the Jewish local guides also know stories that cannot be found in a travel book!
Pavoncello studied art history and completed a year of research at the central Archive of Rome. She has lived her entire life in Rome with the exception of one year in Argentina and another year in Israel. Now, she enjoys taking visitors on walking tours to see the city that she is in love with, allowing visitors to enjoy a unique experience of Rome through Jewish eyes. Tours are designed for all ages, for individuals, families, schools, universities, academics, seminarians, Jewish federations and more.
“I see myself continuing to inspire and teach about the miracle of this community’s existence.” Pavoncello said.
For more information: www.Jewishroma.com +39 3932175898
Susan R. Eisenstein is a longtime Jewish educator, passionate about creating special, innovative activities for her students. She is also passionate about writing about Jewish topics and about Israel. She has two master’s degrees and a doctorate in education from Columbia University.
