The meeting area between Derech Ha'Atsamat and Shaar Palmer Street - which leads to the main entrance to the port - is experiencing a welcome renewal and this is a good opportunity to look back in time at the history of the Port of Haifa.
A brief history of the port of Haifa
The port in Haifa is first mentioned in 104 BC when the ruler of Cyprus landed a large army on the coast to fight the Hasmonean king's army Alexander Jannaeus.
In 1100 it was conquered by the crusaders Thus, it became an important place and flourishing and economic prosperity was recorded. 700 years later, in the 18th century, Haifa acquired the name of a base of Pirates who marveled at the operations in the eastern Mediterranean.
In the 19th century, following his visit to Israel, Herzl He recognized the potential of Haifa and in his book "Altneuland" he described Haifa as the central port of the future Jewish state. Then, in the 20th century, the British arrived.
British mandate port
With the acceptance of the mandate for AI (1918), Britain saw the strategic importance of Haifa as a link between the Middle East, for the Iraqi oil in it, and Western Europe and Britain within it. The Mandate government began to carry out preliminary works in order to develop the port of Haifa.
A comprehensive survey was carried out by Sir Frederick Palmer (1922) to locate the most suitable place to build a modern deep water port. The works were carried out for 5 years (only!), from 1928 to 1934. Upon their completion, the modern port was inaugurated which was built, according to Palmer's proposal, on a strip of land dried up from the sea.
The port's warehouses and facilities were built on this land, and the inner part was paved "The Way of the Kings" (Kings way) which became with the declaration of the state the "Independence Road".
The way of the kings in uniform
In order to establish Haifa as a governmental and representative city, the British government wanted to plan the "Kings' Road" with a width of 30 m (what luck!) that radiates power and majesty. The buildings along the north side of the street were designed by the British architect Clifford Holliday. The ground level is intended for commerce, while the upper floors are for residences.
The buildings were built with a wide roof and an avenue of trees designed to save the passers-by, this out of a deep understanding of the country's climate. The stone-clad buildings were designed in the spirit of the international style with the horizontal lines emphasized by continuous window strips and prominent cornices. The facade of the buildings was the same as the uniform of English high school students.
Sir Frederick Palmer (Palmer), harbor engineer
Frederick Palmer (1934-1960) was, as mentioned, the British engineer who proposed drying the strip of land on which he planned the port. Before his work at AI, he served the British government in India and was the chief engineer of Calcutta port. The street leading from Independence Road to the port's main gate is named after him- Palmer gate.
Clifford Holliday (Holliday) Architect of the Kings Road
Clifford Holliday (1897-1960) was a British architect and urban planner who worked extensively in the field of planning as an architectural planning consultant for the Mandate government. At the same time, he also worked as an independent planner in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Jordan and Haifa. The buildings he designed in Jerusalem include St. Andrews Church and the historic Jerusalem City Hall building. In Haifa he was involved (as a consultant) in planning The new shopping center on Bankim Street and established the guidelines for the design of the buildings along the "Kings' Road".
Building preservation
Today, the compound of Palmer gate And the intersection of Derech Ha'atsmaat was declared a "building for preservation" by the Haifa Municipality and the Council for the Preservation of Heritage Sites in Israel. Clifford Holiday's buildings are given a new life while being carefully renovated to their original character. The ground floor did retain its original commercial purpose, but the upper floors are used for offices.
Dear readers,
The articles in this section are based on open information published in sources such as Wikipedia and other websites and may include various historical inaccuracies arising from the aforementioned sources.
Interesting articles from the distant past that add knowledge to forgotten things.
Thank you very much for your response, Shabbat Shalom!
to Eyal
thank you for your response. Your critical opinions - interesting and thought-provoking.
D9 on the entire eastern part of Independence Road, especially around Petria Street and Gaza (which look worse than Gaza at the moment)
Destroy everything, without sentiments. and to plan Kiryat office towers, street malls around parks like in Sharona in Tel Aviv.
Without sentiments, shave off all the outdated and mostly dangerous buildings. and give construction rights for 30-40 floors.
Natanzon Street should be sunk like in Sharon as an underground street and the missile tower and the income tax building with entrances should be taken down
The ground floor will become a square instead of Nathanson Street, and will connect to Paris Square as a large area with trees and fountains.
The broken record of preserving an ugly and squalid place with a few neglected stone buildings and buildings should be stopped
Renew the heart of Haifa's Ma'ar with towers, just like Bnei Brak did in its outdated industrial area.
To Benny A.- Thank you very much for your response, the mistake will be corrected as soon as possible.
There is also an error in Clifford Holliday's years of life, according to Wikipedia:
December 21, 1897 – September 26, 1960.
Thanks to David for the article and the series of articles in general and also for the hai-fa...
Shabbat Shalom!
Thank you for your response, the error has been corrected. Shabbat Shalom!
To - Uzi - Thank you very much for your response.
To Yigal Greiber - Thank you very much for your instructive response and the supplementary information.
To the observant of the lies - thank you very much for discovering the mistake, it will be taken care of as soon as possible.
There is a mistake in the years of Palmer's life
What is written does not make sense.
uncle Shalom
From the end of the 18th century until the beginning of the 20th century, there were 3 more harbors/piers in Haifa:
1. 1858 The Russian pier, through which arrived both the first Templars and Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i religion.
2. 1898 The Kaiser Pier, built for the arrival of Wilhelm II and his wife Augusta Victoria.
3. 1904/5 The railway pier.
Yigal Greiber - Haifa History Association
First of all, I must point out that all the paintings and illustrations made by the talented artist Dr. David Bar On, along with the wonderful descriptions about those paintings, illustrate to all of us the need to know something about those periods that passed through the State of Israel!
And for that, all respect is due to the Haifa newspaper and its editors who gave the opportunity to bring up such important historical issues.
To Rafi Raful - Thank you very much, my friend, Shabbos Shalom!
To - Shamai - Thank you for your response.
interesting
All the best to you, my friend, Dr. David Bar On. Shalom and blessed Sabbath.
To Miki Gottschalk - Thank you very much for your response.
To - I just wanted to know - thank you very much for your response that brings additional information to the article.
Very interesting article and brings back memories of the past.
A small correction - the buildings on the old southern side of the Atzmaat Road were actually originally on the seashore. Holliday planned a similar row of buildings on the south side of the old building as well, but due to the existing old building, only individual buildings were realized from the plan and the sequence is not seen. The northern side was entirely free and therefore was built entirely in sequence (even if not to the full maximum height).