A story about a building – The National Maritime Museum is located at 198 Allenby Street, at the foot of Mount Carmel, at the meeting point of the "evergreen" mountain with the seashore.
A brief history of the museum
The museum began in 1938, when a maritime training association that existed in those days and was called "The Maritime Rope to Israel", decided to establish a museum of maritime history. The association began collecting various exhibits, such as ancient maps, which later became the nucleus of the museum's collection. It was to be opened in Tel Aviv, but in 1939, the Israeli Maritime Council decided to move the new museum to Haifa.
The year 1953 is considered the year of the founding of the museum in the "Seafarers' House" on Hanamal Street in Haifa, under the management of Aryeh Ben-EliThe museum's collection's wanderings between different locations in the city came to an end for about 20 years, until 1972. The museum moved to its current home, on Allenby Street, in 1972, with the completion of the purpose-built building designed by the Public Buildings Planning Department, which operated within the Haifa Municipality.
The museum was established thanks to the donations of: The Morrison Foundation from London, the Haifa Municipality, and friends from Israel and abroad.
The National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Haifa is dedicated to the history of shipping in the Mediterranean basin, the Red Sea and the Nile River. Its display reflects about 5000 years of maritime history in the region. The permanent exhibitions in the museum are arranged according to the order of historical periods. Among the impressive exhibits are ship models, underwater archaeological finds and an impressive collection of ancient maps.
In addition, paintings by Israeli and international artists on maritime themes are displayed. Since 2004, the theme of pirates, who were very active in the eastern Mediterranean basin, has also been part of the fascinating exhibition. In addition, a section of the museum is dedicated to mosaics and finds from the excavations at Tel Shikmona. The National Maritime Museum Library is a scientific research reference library that includes over 5,000 books and several hundred journals on diverse subjects.
Museum building
As mentioned, the museum building, which was inaugurated in 1972, was built according to plans prepared by the Public Buildings Planning Department, which operated within the Haifa Municipality until the 80s. This department, led by the architect Rubinstock, was also responsible for the design of the building sport Hall In Rome (inaugurated in 1976).
The museum building has 4 floors and an area of approximately 2500 square meters: two floors above the level of Allenby Street and two below it. The building is designed as a composition of two blocks in the form of simple rectangular boxes: a large box in which the museum is located with all its spaces and a small box in which the staircase is located. These two blocks are attached to each other at a right angle and the area where they meet defines the entrance plaza from the direction of Allenby Street. The building is clad in sawn stone tiles. The entrance floor is mostly transparent, being closed by large windows facing the street.
About 20 years ago, the Haifa architect was asked Our father was born To plan an expansion of the museum building. His proposal included a 2-story addition, in the spirit of the original building. The addition was supposed to include additional exhibition areas, various service areas, and a cafeteria facing north, towards the sea. The proposal did not come to fruition due to the withdrawal of the donors from the project.
Educational activity
In addition to providing guidance to groups during their visits, the museum conducts educational activities in schools in Haifa, which include preparatory meetings for a visit to the museum, as well as educational tours with various emphases (art, daily life in antiquity, etc.). For adults, the museum offers courses on maritime archaeology and pottery techniques, including a tour of Tel Shikmona.
I can say that I visited the museum for the purpose of preparing the article and I admit that I was captivated for hours by the astonishing exhibits: the ancient maps, the models of ships and vessels, the pirate paraphernalia and their stories, the archaeological finds recovered from the seabed and the beautiful paintings. It is recommended to visit and not to look at the clock!
Thanks
First, thanks to Ofri Shahaf for suggesting the topic for the article. Also, my sincere thanks to my colleagues, Ader Yehuda Aridor and Ader Avi Toledano, for their help in obtaining essential information for the preparation of the article.
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If you can add 4 floors to the casino building, then surely you can also add 4 floors to museum buildings. Let's build.
Thank you David for a fascinating article.
As a lifelong resident of Haifa who grew up in the Ein Hayam neighborhood, which is close to the museum, I will add that in the 70s, a class was held at the museum for elementary school students on the theme: "Building Model Ships." I had the honor and pleasure of taking part in this class. The class was held in the basement. We drew inspiration for the construction from the ship models in the museum. The class was taught by a model ship builder named Ella Cherkassky.
A little nostalgia.
Ethan, thank you for your response.
Stunning 💖
After 60 years, museums need new buildings like the ones they invested in in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
The entire north suffers from neglect in all areas.
There is no international airport, there is no additional hospital in the Krayot, they are just looking to take it from Haifa, there have been no new museums for decades, there is no central station in the Krayot that was promised to be built in Motzkin.
Simply outrageous neglect. They're just milking taxes here and putting pollutants here.
Haifa is finished, they slaughtered this city and now they want to push for evacuation and construction in dense neighborhoods.
Without building any new infrastructure, not even schools that are 70 years old and crumbling.
Thank you for the beautiful review. The museum was designed by architect Yitzhak Yavetz. The wonderful building deserves preservation and renovation that will reflect its rare quality.
Thank you for your response. What is the source of the information about the architect Yitzhak Yavetz? Do you have any additional information about him?
The museum building is outdated and they always mention this at the opening of exhibitions, which is sad.
They always talk about the building not looking respectable and also the building being too small if you think about similar museums around the world.
One of the absurdities is that it and the Naval Museum next to it are blocked from the sea by the railroad tracks and roads and were not built near the waterfront like the Institute for Marine and Lake Research. The Maritime Museum should have been built on the other side of the institute near Fisherman's Beach Road.
Thank you for your response. I agree that this is absurd, but it may have been the closest plot of land to the sea that the municipality owned…
Correction: In Haifa
Congratulations to you, my friend Dr. David Bar-On, for the article about the National Maritime Museum in Chifen. May you be blessed. Happy Purim and a blessed Shabbat.
Thank you very much, dear Raful, Shabbat Shalom!
Congratulations on the thorough research, the informative article, and the lovely illustrations as always. I was simply interrupting with information that turned out to be incorrect and gave the link to Avi Toledano, who I assumed had solid information. Thank you to both of you and I will be happy to help in the future.
Thank you very much, Yehuda. Without the tip you provided me, I would not have reached the information. Shabbat Shalom!