Tel Aviv (Jaffa) and Appolonia

Places of Interest - Israël

Tel-Aviv-Beach-Friday-Night-Drums-Israël

introduction

Tel Aviv is the second city of Israel, after Jerusalem, and there can-not be any bigger difference with its big brother in the east. The still young city of Tel Aviv, built by a number of progressive young Israelites, is a mishmash of sparkling energy with a sauce of excellent nightlife, a delightful beach, perfect shops and Bauhaus architecture. Life goes on here for 24 hours a day despite the constant threat of long-distance bombs from Iraq or (self)bomb attacks by Palestinians.

South of Tel Aviv is one of the oldest settlements in the world, Jaffa. This is nowadays also part of the conurbation of Tel Aviv. The center of the old Arab city has since been heavily restored. Many artists live there and there are galleries, museums, theaters, shops and catering establishments.

Many concerts and festivals are also organized here, mostly in the open air. This area is a magnet for national and international tourism. To the north of Tel Aviv lies the beach town of Netanya with its many hotels and the abandoned Crusader ruins in the national park Appolonia.

highlights

Tel Aviv:

Tel Aviv has several places of interest; In addition to the famous beaches, shopping centers, restaurants and clubs, the city is sometimes called the largest outdoor museum in the world. This because of the 1930s architecture style, called Bauhaus.

Since 2003, The White City, as it is sometimes called, is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Tel Aviv also has a number of interesting museums (including the Diaspora and the Palmach museum) and a number of striking (city) districts. For example, you can visit the covered Carmel market or go shopping in Sheinken street.

The park in the King George street is recommended in addition to a visit to the old Yemenite quarter. If you want to view the city (and beaches) from above you can best go to the high Azrieli tower for a beautiful panorama. The beaches of Tel Aviv are safe and clean and in the evening they are “taken” by the city's party people.

Jaffa:

The ancient Arab city of Jaffa is one of the world's oldest inhabited places with its 4000 year old existence. Located on the Mediterranean sea, the now heavily renovated neighborhood has a variety of narrow, windy, shady streets, alleys and squares with romantic terraces and (art) galleries.

Jaffa actually consists of three neighborhoods and can now be reached on foot with a 6 kilometer long beach promenade from Tel Aviv centre. There is a wonderful relaxed atmosphere in every neighborhood. Old Jaffa is at the top of the list of sights of the many foreign tourists, while the flea market in New Jaffa is always crowded.

The port just south of the old city is one with a long history where, for centuries, mainly Jewish immigrants but also pilgrims first entered the Holy country on their way to Jerusalem. At that time it was the most important port of Palestine.

Appolonia NP and Netanya

At about 10 kilometers north of Tel Aviv is the national park of Appolonia. Unfortunately, you can only come here with your own transport. The site is a combination of ruins of an old Crusader castle. Outdoor summer shows are often held here too.

There are remains of a Roman villa as well as a very impressive view of the blue Mediterranean where the site is located above. Another 20 kilometers away is the city of Netanya situated; this city offers about 11 kilometers of the best sandy beach in Israel.

Netanya is mainly inhabited by French-Jewish immigrants.

history

Jaffa was founded, according to the Old Testament (Bible) during the famous flood which Biblical Noah is known for. It is one of the oldest cities in the world and became one of the most important port cities during the time of King Solomon. At this time Tel Aviv was no more than a few deserted sanddunes. The Israelites had to leave the city to the Egyptians in 1468 BC who conquered the city after being hidden in clay pots. In the twelfth century BC it was inhabited by Philistines, who settled along Gaza beyond the entire coastline.

In the Bible the city is called Joppa; here the apostle Peter would have resurrected as a woman. From the 18th century, Palestine became known for its Jaffa oranges, which got world famous, especially after the Crimean War. Tel Aviv was created by a small group of Jews, then still living in the Arabic old Jaffa, who were not satisfied with the way of life. They were not taking serious and wanted to built a new modern, more friendly place for everybody.

While more Jewish immigrants, mainly from Russia, came to Israel they start to built the district Neve Zedek in 1886 and later also Neve Shalom in 1890. The barren dunes were divided into pieces and then raffled. In 1908 the Achuzat Bait district was designed. This district should be the example for a garden city: beautiful with good steady houses, each with a garden, a large park in the middle of the neighborhood, and in the middle of that park all public buildings. In 1910, the first districts of Tel Aviv were baptized, (springtime) to a biblical reference.

After WWI, a new immigration wave followed and skirmishes with Arabs from Jaffa occured more often. Especially in the 1930s, immigrant and university graduates designed many houses and offices in Tel Aviv. The Arab-Palestinian uprising began on 19 April 1936 in Jaffa and Nabloes with a general strike. After riots broke out all over the country, the British introduced reinforcements from Egypt and Malta to restore public order.

Arabs were asked to leave the city. In 1939, when many Jews fled to Palestine from Nazi Germany, 160,000 people were living in Tel Aviv, one third of all Jews in the country. In 1940 Italy bombed the city. It became the center of Zionist thoughts and ideas. Where there is now a parking space next to the Sheraton hotel, the headquarters of the Haganah was located here at the end of 1947, the most important Zionist underground militia in Palestine at the time. On 10 March1948 the fate of the Palestinian Arab population of Palestine was decided here. In the night of 14/15 May 1948, in Israel, the Jewish leaders, Ben-Goerion, proclaimed the independent state of Israel.

Jaffa was the last Palestinian city occupied by the Jewish Haganah and paramilitary militias Lechi and Irgun. On 13 May 1948, after a five-month siege, 5000 Irgun and Haganah fighters took over the town, which had been defended by some 1,500 Palestinian volunteers. Almost all Arabs were driven out of the city. There was a temporarily refugee camp south of the old city of Jaffa, from which only a few Palestinian families could eventually stay. During the war that followed, it was one year that Tel Aviv was the capital of Israel and the meeting place of Israel's temporary parliament.

The city still grew and swallowed many surrounding towns; it became an expensive city to live in. In 1990 Tel Aviv was repeatedly hit by a wave of suicide attacks committed by mainly young Palestinians. Buses, cafés and night clubs where many foreigners were the main goal. A year later also began the First Gulf War and Tel Aviv was hit by Iraqi long-range missiles. In 1995, then Prime Minister "Rabin" was shot dead during a conference in the city. Currently, the city can be described as a high-tech, expensive, modern city with perhaps the best opportunities in dining, entertainment and shopping in the entire Middle East. In 2003 the city was treated to a UNESCO World Heritage list nomination for its "Bauhaus" architecture.

tips & advice (2004 and 2005)

At about 15 km east of Tel Aviv is the international airport Ben Gurion situated. The city has three train stations of which Merkaz is the most important one - it lies more than one kilometer northeast of the center opposite the “second” bus station Arlosoroff. The others are "HaShalom" (next to the Azrieli center) and the southern HaHaganna which is a five minute walk from the central bus station.

Tel Aviv - Jerusalem: from the 6th floor of the central bus station in Tel Aviv, numerous buses (nr 405) head for Jerusalem. Costs are 18.50 NIS and the trip takes about an hour.

Name: Dizengoff square hostel

Address: 13 Ben Ami / Dizengoff Square

Price: 40 NIS (dormitory)

Content:

This is a typical case of - I need a bed and I do not want to stay in a big hostel outside the center but also do not spend too much money. And that's what it is - it's pretty clean but full and kinda “smelly" because the amount of backpackers. It is central and you can basically walk everywhere from here.

Name: Hotel Eilat

Address: 58 HaYarkon street

Price: 63 NIS (double)

Tel No .: 510 2453

Website: www.hotel-eilat.co.il