Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
New City Hall
7
Jaffa Rd.
Map
1 B3.
Tel
(02) 629 7777
l
or (02) 629 6666.
@
6, 13, 18, 20,
27.
#
8:30am-4pm Sun-Thu,
8:30am-noon Fri.
8
(02) 629 6672.
Completed in 1993, the New
City Hall complex is sited
just outside the Old City walls,
where Jewish West Jerusalem
meets Arab East Jerusalem. Its
architecture displays an appro-
priate spirit of synthesis - the
complex includes ten reno-
vated historical buildings, along
with two modern blocks that
refer subtly to historical
models (for example, the
banding of different coloured
stone echoes the Mameluke
buildings of the Old City).
One of the renovated build-
ings, on Jaffa Road, is the old
City Hall. It is still pocked with
bullet holes from its days as a
frontline Israeli army post
when, between 1948 and 1967,
the city was divided
(see p53)
.
The New City Hall, seen through the palms of Safra Square
Consecrated in 1864, the
Cathedral of the Holy Trinity
is fashioned in an unmistak-
ably Muscovite style, with
eight drums topped by green
domes. Unfortunately, it is
closed to the public. Across
the plaza, under a pavement
grille, is what is known as
Herod's Column, a 12-m (40-ft)
stone pillar, which historians
believe was intended for the
Second Temple before it
cracked and was a
b
andoned.
These days the Russians own
R
only the cathedral, as many of
the other buildings belonging
to the compound were sold
off by the Soviet
Union in exchange
for shipments of
Israeli oranges.
The building with
the crenellated
tower - the
grandest of the
former pilgrims'
hostels - is now
home to the Agriculture
Ministry. The street on which
it stands, Heleni ha-Malka,
is one of the city's
nightlife centres, filled
with bars and cafés.
The former women's
hostel, behind the
cathedral, now
houses the
Underground Prisoners'
Museum 1918-48
, which is
dedicated to Jewish resistance
fighters, some of whom were
jailed in this building during
the period of the British
Mandate
(see pp52-3)
.
Ha-Neviim Street
9
Map
1 B2.
@
1, 27.
Russian
Compound
8
Kheshin St.
Map
1 B3.
@
13, 18,
20, 23.
Underground Prisoners'
Museum 1918-48
Tel
(02) 523
One of the oldest streets
outside the Old City,
Ha-Neviim (Street of the
Prophets) roughly marks the
dividing line between the
religious and
secular halves of
modern Jerusalem
(ultra-Orthodox
Mea Shearim lies
just to the north;
the drinking and
dining scene of
the Russian Com-
pound is to the
south). Once a prestigious
address, Ha-Neviim is lined
with some grand buildings. At
No. 58 is Thabor House, the
self
l
3166.
#
9am-5pm Sun-Thu.
&
The Russians were some of
the first people to settle
outside the Old City in the
19th century
(see p113
y .
The process began around
1860 when a few acres of
land were acquired a short
distance out
s
ide the city
walls. The Russians built a
R
virtually self
Royal lion above the
door, Ethiopian Church
f contained
compound to provide
lodgings for the city's
growing number of
Russian pilgrims, and
erected a cathedral
for services.
f designed home of Conrad
Schick, a German who arrived
in the Holy Land a Protestant
missionary and became the
city's most renowned architect
of the late 19th century. The
house now belongs to the
Swedish Theological Institute,
but visitors can admire the
eccentric fortress-like main
gate. Someone will usually
answer the bell and admit the
curious into the courtyard to
admire the building's façade,
complete with embedded
archaeological finds.
A few steps west at No. 64
A
is the house once occupied
by the Victorian painter
The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, in the Russian Compound
For hotels and restaurants in this area see pp257-8 and pp272-4
