Sights in Mediterranean Coast
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Bauhaus Centre
Bauhaus fans will want to stop by the Bauhaus Centre which is loaded with souvenirs and artwork. The centre runs a Bauhaus city tour on Fridays.
Bauhaus style offers simplicity and egalitarianism, designed by architects who carried socialist ideals with them from Europe to Israel. One result of their collective beliefs is the flat roof, intended to be a communal area for all the residents of each building. Of the 4000 Bauhaus-style buildings in the city, just 360 have been renovated, the rest crumbing in the salty, humid sea air, which is not kind to the plaster used for the building façades. Despite its Unesco status, there are no public funds for the restoration of…
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Baha'i Gardens
With every tree trimmed to perfection and every blade of grass seemingly cut to the exact same height, the 18 terraces of the Baha'i Gardens are truly a sight to behold.
The gardens are one of the two great holy places for members of the Baha'i faith, an independent movement that originated in Persia in the middle of the 19th century. The Baha'i are based in the area because the faith's founder, Baha'ullah spent 25 years imprisoned in nearby Akko.
The Baha'i faith is one of the world's youngest religions, established only in the middle of the 19th century. Its central belief is in equality and unity, and it clings to the notion that many prophets have appeared throughout…
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Bat Galim Beach
Ports tend to make a mess of the coast so it's not too surprising that Haifa's beaches are infamously toxic and strewn with garbage. Case in point is Bat Galim Beach , considered one of the best surf breaks in the country and host to international competitions - surfers constantly lament its piles of rusting metal, bricks, concrete, disused furniture and other refuse.
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German Colony
At least once during your stay in Haifa, walk up Ben-Gurion Ave from Jaffa Rd and enjoy the splendour that is the German Colony backed by the cascading lights of the Baha'i Gardens. The colony (really just this street), was renovated in the 1990s into the city's premier address for shopping and dining, with many of its buildings restored and given plaques that describe the history of the area. Haifa's tourist information centre is also located here.
Part of the renovation required that the entire street be moved 168cm, so that its centre divide would line up with the staircase of Baha'i Gardens.
The colony was established in 1869 by the Templers (not to be confused with…
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Hof HaCarmel Beach
Ports tend to make a mess of the coast so it's not too surprising that Haifa's beaches are infamously toxic and strewn with garbage. If you really fancy some sun-worshipping in Haifa, you should head for the much more attractive Hof HaCarmel Beach, in the south of the city. The beach has an inviting promenade with a number of restaurants and cafés, some of them upscale places serving steak and seafood. Folk dancing is held here on Saturdays (11:00 February to June and 19:00 July to January).
Trains from Haifa Merkaz come here every 20 minutes for around ₪5.
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HaShaqet Beach
Ports tend to make a mess of the coast so it's not too surprising that Haifa's beaches are infamously toxic and strewn with garbage. You might want to try the religious HaShaqet Beach , located on the east side of Rambam Medical Centre, which is open to men Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and open to women Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Saturday is mixed.
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Stella Maris Carmelite Monastery
The Carmelites are a Catholic order that originated in the late 12th century when a band of Crusaders, inspired by the prophet Elijah, opted for a hermetic life on the western slopes of Mt Carmel (hence the name). The desired solitude was rarely granted as, over the centuries, the Carmelites suffered Muslim persecution, frequently having to abandon their monasteries.
Occasionally, the Carmelites did have a hand in their own misfortune, as in 1799 when they extended their hospitality to Napoleon during his campaign against the Turks. The French lost their battle for the region and the Carmelites lost their monastery.
The present monastery and church, built over what the…
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Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora
The Nahum Goldman Museum of the Jewish Diaspora doesn't actually display any artefacts from the past. Rather, this is a good collection of models, dioramas, films and presentations chronicling the diversity of Jewish life and culture in exile. The main role of the museum, Beth Hatefutsoth in Hebrew, is to relate the unique story of the continuity of the Jewish people through exhibition, education and cultural endeavours.
Special attractions in the museum include the Feher Jewish Music Centre, the Douglas E Goldman Jewish Genealogy Centre (where visitors can register their family tree to be preserved for future generations) and a Visual Documentation Centre, which is the…
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Rothschild Blvd
This pleasant leafy boulevard was named after the Jewish family of financiers. At one time Rothschild Blvd was the address to have. It's no longer so exalted but former glories are invoked at Independence Hall (16 Rothschild Blvd), where on 14 may 1948, Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of the State of Israel. Previous to that, the building had been the home of Meir Bizengoff, one of the founders of Tel Aviv.
Entry includes a short introductory film and a tour of the room where the Declaration of Independence was signed.
West of the junction with Allenby St, the Haganah Museum (23 Rothschild Blvd) chronicles the formation and activities of the Haganah, the military…
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Almonit (Anonymous) Alley
It's easy to miss this tiny sidestreet while walking up King George St. But as a decidedly non-trendy, alternative hangout, the people that do come here appreciate its obscurity. The alley was originally named after Getzel Shapira, an American Jew who financed civic projects in Tel Aviv in the 1920s.
Later, Mayor Dizengoff, irritated that anyone with money could have a street named after themselves, ordered the street names changed and a clerk gave the alley a name that essentially means 'John Doe'.
Almonit sports a café, a secondhand bookshop, a vintage clothing store and a hairdresser fond of outrageous wall art (which is changed every couple of months). The most…
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Tel Aviv Museum of Art
Part of an attractive modern development that includes law courts and the municipal central library, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art is home to a superb permanent collection of Impressionist and post-Impressionist works, as well as some fine 20th century avante-garde. Works by Picasso, Matisse, Gauguin, Degas and Pollock feature prominently and there are some works by Jewish post-Impressionists Chagall and Soutine. The jewel of the collection has to be van Gogh's The Shepherdess (1889).
The museum often screens films and holds special exhibitions - check the Jerusalem Post on Friday or ask at the tourist information office for the Tel Aviv-Jaffa tourist booklet which usually…
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Azrieli Observatory
Israel's version of the Empire State Building (but without the four-hour line for the elevator) involves a trip up to the 49th floor of the Azrieli round tower to the Azrieli Observatory . Admission includes use of an audio guide (in English or Hebrew) which describes the various buildings and landmarks around the city - you'll get a better grasp of it all during daylight hours.
There is also a film covering the history of the city using 3D animation. Its target audience (four-year-olds) may appreciate the talking, time-travelling camel and flying robot companion, but we recommend you save your money for lunch.
You'd be wise to call ahead to check that the observation deck…
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Elijah's Cave
One of Israel's holiest sites (a holy place for three faiths), Elijah's Cave is where the prophet Elijah is believed to have hidden from King Ahab and Queen Jezebel after he slew the 450 priests of Ba'al (Kings 1:17-19).
There is also a Christian tradition that the Holy Family sheltered here on their return from Egypt, hence the alternative Christian name, Cave of the Madonna. Enter the cave in modest dress.
Although prior to 1948 the cave was a mosque dedicated to Khadar (the Green Prophet), Elijah in Muslim guise, these days the rock chamber is usually crammed full of praying Haredim. Outside, the garden is a favourite picnic spot for local Christian Arabs.
The cave is…
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Clandestine Immigration & Navy Museum
The Clandestine Immigration & Navy Museum may sound a bit bland but it's actually quite fascinating and worth a visit. The museum deals with the successes and failures of the Zionists' illegal attempts to infiltrate into British-blockaded Palestine in the 1930s and '40s. The centrepiece of the museum (quite literally - the building has been constructed around it) is a boat, the Af-Al-Pi-Chen (Hebrew: Nevertheless), whose hold carried 434 refugees to Palestine in 1947.
The boat was intercepted by the British and its passengers were forced into internment camps in Cyprus. Other stories are told about the famed Exodus, a ship that carried over 4500 passengers that was forced…
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Kikar Dizengoff
The geographic heart of the city, Kikar Dizengoff is regularly populated by a motley mix of mohawked punks, hippies, ice cream-licking tots and energetic centigenarians.
The square, named after the city's first mayor (1910-1937), is located on a raised platform over the street, a block north of the Dizengoff Centre shopping mall. The Fire and Water Fountain in the centre of the square makes for a somewhat appropriate symbol of the city. Spinning crazily, spurting water at random moments and occasionally launching flames into the air, its outlandish behavior continues naughtily into the night, almost unnoticed by city residents infected by similarly unpredictable manner.…
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Ben-Gurion Ave
Once considered a singles neighbourhood, it's now a popular address for families, a trend that becomes even more evident the further north you head. The bike lane running the length of Ben-Gurion Ave carries cyclists from Rabin Sq to the sea at Namir Sq, a run-down slab of concrete that sports a couple of cafés and a new nightclub.
The historical highlight of Ben-Gurion Ave is the home that once belonged to Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion. Now the respectable Ben-Gurion Museum (17 Ben-Gurion Ave), the site was maintained more or less as it was left at the time of David Ben-Gurion's death, the small rooms are simply furnished and contain part of the…
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Museum of Underground Prisoners
Before exploring the Knights' Halls climb up the stairs behind the ticket kiosk to the top of the Akko Citadel, a rambling structure built by the Turks in the late 18th century on 13th-century Crusader foundations. At the top of the stairs, turn left to reach the Museum of Underground Prisoners , which is dedicated to the Jewish resistance during the British Mandate. The citadel served for a while as a prison whose inmates included Ze'ev Jabotinsky, a leader of the Jewish underground, in the 1920s.
Exhibits include memorials to nine Jewish resistance fighters who were executed here (the gallows room is open to the public) and a model illustrating the successful mass…
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Carmel Hai Bar
The Carmel Hai Bar is a functioning wildlife preserve where wild goats, wild sheep and deer are bred and monitored until they can be released into the wild. The entrance to the reserve is on Rte 672, about 300m past the Haifa University. It's a good idea to call first as hours are sporadic.
The preserve is on the edge of Carmel National Park, known locally as the Shveytsaria HaK'tana (Little Switzerland). It is renowned for its fertility; vineyards covered the area in ancient times and the name Carmel is derived from the Hebrew Kerem-El (Vineyard of God). For some pleasant walking or for a picnic, take bus No 92 from Herzl St in Hadar or Carmel Centre and just get off…
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Eretz Israel Museum
The Eretz Israel Museum actually consists of 11 linked, small museums built around an archaeological site, Tel Qasile. The museum complex is made up of, among others, a planetarium, a glass museum, a folklore pavilion, a reconstruction of a medieval bazaar, a ceramics museum, and a couple of halls with temporary exhibitions. Perhaps the best section is the multimedia presentation of Baron Rothschild, the financier who paid for many public works projects in Tel Aviv in the late 19th century.
Although not all of it is exactly enthralling, it's very well done and can easily occupy a few hours of your time. To get there take bus No 24, 27 or 86.
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Reuben & Edith Hecht Museum
The basement of the Eshkol Tower houses the impressive Reuben & Edith Hecht Museum , which houses a fine collection of archaeological artefacts relating to Jewish history before the Diaspora. There is plenty of ancient pottery, weapons and even a pair of 2100-year-old petite-sized sandals. The museum highlight is a 5th-century-BC Greek ship found near Caesarea in 1984. It has been carefully rebuilt and placed in a specially designed annexe of the museum.
An art wing upstairs contains sections on French Impressionist and Jewish art from the 19th and 20th centuries. Among the works are paintings by Monet, Pissaro and Van Gogh.
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Tourist Office
The 600m-long Southern Road was an important thoroughfare in Akko during Crusader times. It was here that pilgrims entering the Holy Land would be divided into groups before setting off towards Jerusalem. The road was recently found buried under the city and a 50m subterranean stretch has been excavated and prepared for tourism. The road is paved with stone tablets and its walls contain Crusader-era carvings of boats, crosses and shields.
A row of shops and a gate was also identified. At the time of writing the site had not yet opened for tourism - ask the Tourist Office for details on how to visit the site.
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Old Port
Originally opened in 1936 to give newly established Tel Aviv sea-trafficking independence of Jaffa, the port fairly soon went into decline with the construction of a better, deeper harbour at Ashdod. In the early 2000s the municipality went in and overhauled the area, creating a wide boardwalk and transforming the derelict warehouses into commercial space.
It's now the most fashionable piece of real estate in the city, with a 1km-long strip of restaurants, bars and nightclubs. It's at its busiest after dark and on weekends when hordes of young clubbers descend on the strip of discotheques.
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University of Haifa
One of Israel's premier places of higher learning, University of Haifa , 5.5km south of Carmel Centre, covers all areas of academia, but specialises in the liberal arts. There is another spin on 'higher learning' here as the university is perched spectacularly on the summit of Mt Carmel with views of Haifa and far beyond. The best place to take in the panorama is from the observation deck of the 27-storey Eshkol Tower, which was designed by the renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer.
Tours of the university can be made, but by advanced booking only; call to make a reservation.
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Dagon Grain Silo & Museum
There is no reason to visit the port area, unless you are catching a ferry to Cyprus or have a keen interest in seeing Israel's entrepôt for grain. The enormous Dagon Grain Silo & Museum is the distinctive fortresslike construction on Ha'atzmaut St that dominates the skyline of lower Haifa. There's a museum within the plant where you can take a free guided tour to learn something about the other oldest profession: the cultivation, handling, storing and distribution of grain.
Tours are at 10:30 Sunday to Friday, and the museum closes for the day once the tour is over.
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Khan al-Umdan
Old Akko has several large khans (an inn enclosing a courtyard, used by caravans for accommodation) which once served the camel caravans bringing in grain from the hinterland. The grandest is the Khan al-Umdan . Its name means 'Inn of the Pillars', and it was built by Al-Jazzar in 1785. The pillars that give the khan its name were looted from Caesarea. It's a two storey structure and the ground floor would have housed the animals, while their merchant owners would have slept upstairs.
The courtyard now serves as Akko's unofficial soccer stadium.
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