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Haifa (Hebrew חֵיפָה Heifa; Arabic حَيْفَا Ḥayfā) is the third largest city in Israel and the major city in the north of the country with a population close to 300,000. It is a seaport located on Israel's Mediterranean shoreline, below scenic Mount Carmel. It is the second holiest city in the Baha'i Faith.
Haifa is first mentioned historically around the 3rd century CE as a small town near Shikmona, the main Jewish town in the area at that time and a center for making the traditional Tekhelet dye used for Jewish Priests' temple cloth. The archaeological site of Shikmona lies southwest of the modern Bat Galim neighborhood. The Byzantine ruled there until the 7th century, when the city was conquered — first by the Persians, then by the Arabs. In 1100, it was conquered again by the Crusaders after... Read more
Haifa (Hebrew חֵיפָה Heifa; Arabic حَيْفَا Ḥayfā) is the third largest city in Israel and the major city in the north of the country with a population close to 300,000. It is a seaport located on Israel's Mediterranean shoreline, below scenic Mount Carmel. It is the second holiest city in the Baha'i Faith.
Haifa is first mentioned historically around the 3rd century CE as a small town near Shikmona, the main Jewish town in the area at that time and a center for making the traditional Tekhelet dye used for Jewish Priests' temple cloth. The archaeological site of Shikmona lies southwest of the modern Bat Galim neighborhood. The Byzantine ruled there until the 7th century, when the city was conquered — first by the Persians, then by the Arabs. In 1100, it was conquered again by the Crusaders after a fierce battle with its Jewish and Muslim inhabitants. Under Crusader rule, the city was a part of the Principality of Galilee until the Muslim Mameluks captured it in 1265.
In 1761 Daher El-Omar, Bedouin ruler of Acre and Galilee, destroyed and rebuilt the town in a new location, surrounding it with a thin wall. This event is marked as the beginning of the town's modern era. After El-Omar's death in 1775, the town was under Ottoman rule until 1918, except for two brief periods. In the years following, Haifa grew in terms of traffic, population, and importance, as Akko suffered a decline. The development of Haifa increased further with the arrival of members of the German Protestant Temple Society in 1868, who settled a modern neighborhood near the city, now known as the "German Colony". The Templers greatly contributed to the town's commerce and industry, playing an important role in its modernization.
By the beginning of the 20th Century, Haifa had emerged as an industrial port city and growing population center, reflected by the establishment of facilities like the Hejaz railway and Technion. At that time Haifa District was home to approximately 20,000 inhabitants, comprised of 82% Muslim Arab, 14% Christian Arabs, and 4% Jewish residents. The Jewish population increased steadily with immigration primarily from Europe, and by 1945 the population had shifted to 38% Muslim, 13% Christian and 47% Jewish.
Today, Haifa is home to Jews, Muslim and Christian Arabs, as well as small communities of Ahmadis (in Kababir), Druze (in nearby Isfiya and Daliyat al-Karmel), Bahá'ís, and others. Haifa is characterized as a mosaic of peaceful coexistence between the communities. It is also the second-holiest city in the Bahai faith.
The phrase "Haifa works, Jerusalem prays, and Tel Aviv plays" refers to Haifa's reputation as a city of workers. A generation ago Haifa's image was that of a serious—and somewhat dull—labor city because of its many factories. It still has an industrial area to its north, where one of Israel's two oil refineries is located. But it also has a world-class high-tech strip in its south, in the "Matam" technology park along the beach. The park includes blue-chip tech firms such as Intel, Philips, Microsoft, and Google as well as some of Israel's largest tech firms, Elbit, Zoran, and Amdocs. IBM has an R&D center on the top ofHaifa has two main bus terminals where passengers can switch between inter-city buses and trains to the local routes:
Haifa's local bus system includes three "Metronit" (BRT) routes and a large number of "normal" routes.
Buses in Haifa run regularly between 5 AM and midnight. Unlike most cities in Israel, local buses (but not the Carmelit subway) run on the Sabbath (Friday afternoon to Saturday evening) and Jewish holidays; however, they only operate minimal and highly infrequent services during these hours. The "sherut" (taxi van with fixed routes and prices) lines also run on Saturdays in parallel with some bus routes and are much more frequent.
Haifa has a subway: the Carmelit funicular. It is the only subway in Israel. It is useful for getting up or down the mountain from downtown, but it only extends to a small part of Haifa. If you need to go further, you can buy a ticket which includes a transfer to a bus for the remainder of your journey, though it's probably more convenient to just take a bus the whole way. However, the Carmelit is worth taking for fun, to see its weird angled structure (steps in the stations and train cars, made necessary by the steepness of the mountain). The Carmelit has few riders, so you'll always find a seat.
The Carmelit has six stations listed here as they go downhill:
Haifa is largely a modern city.
Haifa is not a gourmet center like greater Tel Aviv, but it still has plenty to offer.
Falafel and other street food. Some good falafel can be found in Falafel Michel and Falafel HaZkenim, both in the Wadi Nisnas area; Falafel HaNasi (locations in the Carmel Center and Horev Center); and at Paris Square, the lowest Carmelit station. Wadi Nisnas has many restaurants and food stalls for shawarma, falafel, and Middle Eastern sweets like baklava and knafe.
There is a huge concentration of falafel and shawarma stands downtown on Yafo Street, near the old Bat Galim Central Bus Terminal building (about 400m from it). The food is cheap and authentic.
Another cheap street food is the Bureka — a Turkish phyllo dough, filled pastry — which is almost as common as falafel. Price is also cheap, and it usually comes filled with cheese, potatoes, spinach, and feta, or meat.
Further up the food chain are the Middle Eastern/Arabic restaurants. Most are located downtown: Abu-Yousef (there are two with no relation ), Hummus Faraj, Hummus Abu-Shaker (on HaMeginim St.), Abu Maroun (in the flea market), Matza (a good place 10 minutes walking distance from the shopping mall "Grand Canyon"). They are all famous for their high-quality hummus (which is regarded as the "best of the best" in Israel).
There are several Romanian-style restaurants; in actuality, this is a hybrid of Middle Eastern and Romanian cuisine. Most are located downtown: Ma'ayan HaBira (beer fountain), Cafe (coffee) Glida (ice-cream) Younek.
Wadi Nisnas is mostly frequented for produce and groceries, but there are also a few good eateries in the area. Most of the businesses are on a street called simply "Al-Wadi" (the Valley), or its northern continuation "Shehadeh Saleh", running diagonally from Shabtai Levi St. to HaTsiyonut Boulevard.
Moriah Avenue, starting from Horev center (shopping center) all the way to the Carmel center along Moriah Avenue. Some good places alongside this 3 km stretch include:
You can find good food in the local bars around Moriah Avenue, for example, the Duke, Brown, Barbarosa. Good traditional restaurant is Ma'ayan Habira, where home-style dishes are served.
Ben-Gurion Avenue, right below the Bahai Gardens. (at a straight line below it, thus completing an imaginary line from the Gardens into the sea. The street is downtown near the port). This cluster holds some good restaurants, including:
Stella Maris, at the San Francisco Observatory. Several restaurants with spectacular views:
HaNamal, the Port.
Dado Beach. Last but not least is the beach strip cluster which has several restaurants. The food is OK, but the real reason to go there is to relax while enjoying views of the beach (only 15 meters away), or for people-watching.
All these clusters of restaurants are very vibrant with youth at about 9 PM further into the small hours of the night, almost at any day of the week, but on Fridays, it may get too crowded on the most popular places. Unfortunately, the medium priced places usually take the 'all the people you can squeeze in' approach, thus you might get a noisy crowded place, and service may not be as good.
Tipping is customary. The normal rate is 15% at all places that you sit down and are served. Don't tip at falafel, shawarma, and bureka stands. If you feel the service was poor, tip less if it was outstanding tip a little more.
Central Mount Carmel offers a decent selection of mid-class cafes and bars. Popular cafes are Greg and Tut (Strawberry), which are right next to each other in Kikar Sefer, and closer to the Horev Center, 'Frangelico' and 'Barbarossa' are considered to be the most popular bars in the city's chic Carmel area. They are often very crowded, but if one can't get in, there are many other bars in the close walking distance, such as Brown, Levinsky, Maidler, and Duke. The beautiful street of Yefe Nof also boasts a cluster of pubs including a popular Charliebar and Irish-style pub. Downtown there are some more pubs, including the legendary old-fashioned 'Maayan HaBira', which is more popular among adult crowd; the "Martef" (Basement), where you might also catch an open-mic night; and up the street from HaMartef is Jack and the Beanstalk, a more intimate pub with a great selection of appetizers. Another downtown happening place is the Syncopa bar.
Haifa's mountainous location makes it generally unfriendly for the pedestrian. Therefore shopping avenues are less common than in other cities, though there are a few, such as the Hadar area and the Carmel Centre.
In the old downtown (city center), in a flat area close to the seaport, there are inexpensive shops.
Haifa has many shopping malls. These include the Kiryon, Horev Center, Kastra Center, City Centre Mall (Lev HaIr), Kanyon Haifa and Cinemall. In addition, the 'Grand Canyon' is the newest and biggest mall. It has international brand names such as Armani, Lacoste, Benetton, and Zara as well as local brands and a large food court. "Kanyon" is Hebrew for the mall, and the "Grand Canyon" is in a deep valley in central Haifa, hence the pun in its name.
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May 22, 2022
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We spent less than one day in the Israeli city of Haifa. We didn't have enough time to see the local attractions, and I can not say whether I liked this city, although we will remember it for a long time. Let me tell you about this in details in this review. We arrived in this city in the late... |
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Nahariya is one of the resorts in Israel, located on the Mediterranean coast in Western Galilee.
The resort life is centered on the main street, Ha-Ga'ton. Eucalyptus trees grow along tree-lined boulevards, and there's the river Ga'aton, which looks like a dead stream. To the right and to left of... |
We were going down the terraces of the Bahai Garden -
Terraces of the Bahá'í Faith
. Only believers are allowed to go up there. The Baha'i Faith is one of the youngest world religions. It started in 1844 in Iran. The symbol of Baha'i is a nine-pointed star. There's a tomb of Baba on... |
Haifa
is the third largest city in Israel and the largest seaport on the slope of
Mount Carmel
. The population is about 275,000.
The higher the district, the more prestigious. Arabs live in the Lower Town, Hof Shemen is the industrial district, and Carmel is the highest and most... |
We came out of the subway, and I took pictures of the cloudy winter day in
Haifa.
Then it started raining.
Modern buildings of glass and concrete neighbor smaller, ramshackle buildings.
The Israeli law forbids even touching unowned houses for 60 years. They are only subject... |
Caesarea
is a city built by King Herod and it served as the capital of Israel, during the ancient Roman period. There you can find a theater, a "palace on the reef," an amphitheater for King Herod, baths, administrative and economic areas, a fortified town from the Middle Ages, a port, a... |