Oh, the irony!

Posted on February 22, 2015 by Tom G

Sometimes life is more ironic than fiction. This is certainly true about today’s walking tour. Today we’re visiting the Muslim cemetery in Mamillah. Mamilla is a stone’s through from Jaffa Gate in the Old City and has been of use to Jerusalem residents since biblical times.

The cemetery was founded in the 13th century and remained in use until 1927. The word “Mamillah” is actually the mispronunciation of the Arabic “maman Allah” – “comes from Allah.”

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Despite the fact that most Jerusalemites have walked through the cemetery at some point, very few actually know the story of the area.

According to tradition, the first people to be buried in the cemetery were soldiers who fought against the Crusaders. Perhaps the most famous was Sheikh Dia A-Din Abu Muhamad Al-Alami who commanded the siege of Acre in 1291.

Today, the cemetery is absolutely filthy, it is a repository for trash and is neglected by all. How embarrassing. If anybody around the world would treat a Jewish cemetery this way, all Hell would pay.

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A beautiful tomb is that of the governor of Safed, Al-Kubki who was buried here in the 13th century.

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Built in the traditional Muslim style, it is covered with graffiti, and as I tried to look in to the tomb, I saw that it was filled with trash. Shame!

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Over the last century, there were lots of different plans to build here. Actually, the cemetery was much larger, and at some point (1927) the Mufti Amin Al-Husseini wrote a fatwa making burial in the cemetery forbidden. Haj Amin wanted to change the purpose of the area to allow for commercial development, and the Waqf sold part of the land to the city. If you cross the street to Hillel street, you will see a lone tomb in the street.

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But, we still haven’t gotten to the most ironic part of the story. The city of Jerusalem has been actively trying to develop this land. It’s expensive real estate, after all. Smack in the center of the city.

Some genius got the idea that it would be a good place for a museum. A museum for what you may ask? What sort of museum could one build on a Muslim cemetery? Wait for it —

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That’s it! Who would build a “Museum of Tolerance” on a Muslim cemetery??

Really, you can’t make this stuff up.

So many surprises on Agron St.

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Tom G

I think that I must drive on Agron St. about twice a week. It’s a major road between anywhere and everywhere. Usually, I don’t pay too much attention to the buildings, although I know that there is the American consulate, the beautiful new Waldorf Astoria hotel, and a monastery or two. This week I decided to explore two buildings along the eastern (or bottom) part of the street.

My first stop is a beautiful and old building called Beit Habib Bshara, at Agron 22. This is a one floor square building with a ceramic roof and has four apartments. Habib Bshara was a Christian-Arab who worked as an architect in Jerusalem and designed this beautiful building at the beginning of the 20th century.

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It’s perfectly symmetrical, and you can see the beautiful arched entrance. Notice the beautiful art deco iron works. You can also see that the stone has a reddish tint to it. The store on the bottom left is the oldest bicycle shop in Jerusalem (Yedidya). Everyone bought a bike from them at some point (I bought a few!)

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The building is on a corner of an alley way (Zamenhof street), and it you go down the alley, you’re in for a treat. For those of you who are interested who Zamenhof was … he invented the language Esperanto (aka “Doktoro Esperanto”). We come to some lovely residential buildings.

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Walking a bit further, we find more beautiful buildings and a small and lovely community garden. Hidden from view, unknown to many, but lovely!

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We go back to Agron St and turn right. The next building is a gem (Agron 24). This two floor building was built in the 1920s and 1930s and is called Beit Lorenzo, after the Christian-Arab family (Lorenzo).

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Here the red stone is very pronounced. Notice on the top right, there is a balcony floor. I see that they intended to add another floor, but the war (1948) got in the way, and the family fled (or were chased out).

If you walk through the central gate, you come into another hidden Jerusalem gem. You will see that there are actually two buildings – one on Agron street and another recessed in from the street. Separating them is an amazing garden.

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And as you walk further in, you see the courtyard in all its splendor.

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The original owners were a Christian-Arab family; you can see the Madonna on the roof of the central building. I spoke with a resident (Yisrael) who has lived there since 1949 (after the 1948 war, the building was abandoned and taken by the state and then re-sold), and he told me that despite one of the residents being a very orthodox Jew, they all decided to leave the Madonna intact, out of respect for this beautiful building.

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There’s a lot of construction going on around the area (that’s what you are seeing behind the Madonna).

There are so many other beautiful buildings on Agron St., and I’ll write about them at some point. It’s just wonderful to really explore the area after passing it by so often. How many other gems are there in the city?

Ethiopia Street

Posted on January 28, 2015 by Tom G

One of the most beautiful streets in all of Jerusalem is Ethiopia Street. It is located just off the Prophets Street, and abuts both the downtown triangle of West Jerusalem on its south, Mea She’arim on it’s north, and the Old City on the south-east.

Connecting Ethiopia Street to the Prophets Street made it into an important street; however, during the Ottoman times, it was just a foot path. When the British came to Jerusalem in 1917, the Prophets Street was paved and along with it its tributaries. Originally named Abyssinian Street by the British, the name was later changed to Ethiopia Street.

Building on the street started in the 19th century, when Ethiopia was under the reign of Emperor Melenik II (1844 – 1913) who reigned Ethiopia from 1889-1909. Along with his Empress Consort, Taytu Betul (c. 1851-1919), Melenik II built over a dozen beautiful buildings in Jerusalem. This entire area was call the Habash Neighborhood (named after the Al-Habash on the Horn of Africa).

Menelik II

Tayto Betul

Ethiopia is one of the most ancient of Christian communities in the world. Some say that it dates back as far as Philip the Evangelist and the 1st century. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church has deep ties to Jerusalem. Ethiopian monks came to the Holy Land in the 5th Century and were originally located in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher and later on in the new city (more about that in a future post).

The church on Ethiopian street was initiated in 1882 after receiving Ottoman permission and built in 1884 by the Emperor Johannes and is called Kidane Miharat (Covenant of Mercy) in a beautiful area called Dibra Ganet (Mount of Heaven); it was finally opened in 1893.

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The blessing on the gate says: “This church is dedicated to the Virgin Mary and was opened by His Majesty, King of Kings of Ethiopia Johannes in the year of St. Mark, 1874.” Since the date is from the Ethiopian calendar, it is actually 1882 by the Gregorian calendar.

The church has a black dome with an Ethiopian cross on the top and is round. There are two entrances: one for men and one for women.

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I really love the inside, the light is fantastic. In these shots you can see the round structure and drums which are used in ceremonies.

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1/125 sec at f/4.0, ISO 500, 16 mm

1/60 sec at f/4.0, ISO 320, 35 mm

1/125 sec at f/4.0, ISO 500, 16 mm

I was really lucky to catch this shot of a monk studying. The entire place was very peaceful

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.Next to the compound, at number 8, is the former Ethiopian consulate. I loved the royal symbol at the top of the building.

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In the church compound, I found another royal symbol.

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There are other beautiful buildings on the street, but they are all difficult to see as they are behind fences. There are so many beautiful buildings and lovely alley ways.

1/320 sec at f/8.0, ISO 100, 35 mm

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One of the interesting ones is the house where Eliezer Ben Yehuda lived and died (number 11). Ben Yehuda brought the Hebrew language back to life in the early part of the 20th century. He died of tuberculosis in this house.

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I specifically liked the balcony!

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	Tom G on Going, going, gone
	Tia on Going, going, gone
	Antoine R. Rahil on So many surprises on Agron…
	Tom G on So many surprises on Agron…
	Antoine R. Rahil on So many surprises on Agron…

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Oh, the irony!

So many surprises on Agron St.

Ethiopia Street