Haifa

Baha'i gardens:

The Baha'i gardens have their world-center in Haifa, which is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The tomb of the Báb, one of the founders of this world religion, is located in the Persian garden, consisting of hanging gardens on 19 terraces.

It is considered to be the second most sacred place on earth for Bahá'ís, after the tomb of Bahá'u'lláh in Bahjí, near Akko. Baha'ullah was in prison near Akko for 25 years and came on the mountain four times in which he expressed the wish to be buried here.

It is a sanctuary of the Bahá'í religion, which originated in Persia in 1844. There are about 6 million followers and the basis of faith is formed by equality and communality. The garden is European with a pinch from the oriental east. The dome consists of 12000 roof tiles of 50 different types and sizes made in Utrecht, the Netherlands, using an innovative process of fire glazing over gold leaf.

Old Center of Haifa

Haifa developed from the lower city to the upper city on the Carmelberg. The oldest district of modern Haifa is Wadi Salib, the old city center near the harbor. Where the port in the 20th century was an area full of activity with shops, restaurants and local goods, it is now a place with large modern department stores. In the 19th century, during the Ottoman administration, the German Colony was built.

First example of city planning where members of a Christian community prepared for a return of Christ. Emperor Wilhelm II visited the city in 1898. During the war, the Germans were deported here where the British were very afraid for collaboration. Some buildings have been restored and the Colony is now a center of nightlife with expensive restaurants and sheik boutiques. The Karmel center, located on the mountain of the same name, is nowadays also an expensive neighborhood with a big five star hotel. The view of the city and the beaches and harbor are beautiful. 

The city is particularly rich in museums. Among the museums of the city are the central railway museum of Israel, Tikotin museum of Japanese art and the science museum of Israel (this is especially a children's museum) in the building where Alfred Einstein held the opening speech of the Technion University. You also have the maritime museums in which the British blockade against illegal immigration is situated. 

Other attractions:

• South of Haifa, at the bottom of Mount Carmel, is the cave of Elijah, where this prophet - whose story is called in Tenach - would have lived. From Haifa, excursions can be made to Druze villages, which have been located in the Karmel mountains for centuries south of the city. There are also some nice beaches in and around Haifa.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the Jewish community began to grow in Haifa. The current port area was then still marsh-land and the hills of mountain "Carmel" were at that time only occupied by roaming goats. In 1905 the first trainrails appeared in Haifa to connect the cities of Medina (Saoudi-Arabia) and Damascus in Syria.

Land was mined from the sea to set up new houses and buildings. Haifa grew into a port city where the navy housed and oil was stored. It was the British who saw and took the opportunity to use the natural port of Haifa for greater use. Most new (mainly Jewish) immigrants saw Haifa as first place in the Holy land. It was not entirely coincidental that the first skirmishes between Arabs and Jews started here in 1947. The first Arabs would first be terrorized and then chased away. It would become one of the first strong Jewish strongholds in 1948. 

On 4 October 2003, a terrorist attack took place in the “Maxim” restaurant when the 29-year-old Palestinian nurse, Hanadi Jaradat, blew up herself and everything around her with explosives in the restaurant. Twenty-one Israelis - Jews and Arabs - were killed and 51 others were injured.