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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Jewish cemetery of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue is an emblematic site of the department of Vaucluse, listed as a historical monument since the decree of 30 June 2008. It illustrates the history of the Comtadin Jews, present in the Comtat Venaissin since the Middle Ages. After an expulsion in 1322, followed by a return in 1326, the Jewish community was forced to regroup in four cities, including L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, in the 16th century. These communities, called arba kehilot, lived in specific neighborhoods, the Careers, organized around synagogues and administered by baylons.

The Jewish cemetery of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, originally located near the Carrière, was moved south of the commune due to urban expansion. In 1736 it was enlarged by the purchase of adjacent land for 650 pounds. This cemetery, with an area of 9,460 m2, became the sole possession of the local Jewish community. After the law of separation of the churches and the state in 1905, it became communal property, but its usufruct was retained until 1939, the date of the last burial.

Today, the cemetery houses some 40 graves, mainly members of the Abram, Carcassonne, Crémieux and Créange families, buried during the 19th century. Among the notable personalities are Adolphe Michel Abram (1834-1905), former mayor of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue. The site, surrounded by a fence and accessible by a portal, was fully registered, including its graves, monuments, soil and basement, by order of 30 June 2008.

The Jewish community of L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue, set up near the present Jewish square, had several buildings around its synagogue, destroyed in 1856. The Comtadin Jews lived mainly in the trade of cloths, maquignonnage and the loan of money, and enjoyed a period of prosperity in the seventeenth century. However, their population declined sharply from the late eighteenth century, from several hundred to only 561 individuals in 1808 in the four main communities.

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