Nahalat Binyamin
Nahalat Binyamin
נחלת בנימין | |
---|---|
Tel Aviv street & neighbourhood | |
Coordinates: 32°04′05″N 34°46′12″E / 32.06806°N 34.77000°E | |
Country | Israel |
Nahalat Binyamin (
.Name
Nahalat Binyamin is translated as "the estate of Benjamin".[1]
The second part of the name, Binyamin (the original
Location
Nahalat Binyamin Street runs north to south.[3] It begins in the north at Magen David Square, where it intersects with four other streets: Allenby, King George and its continuation HaCarmel, and Menahem Sheinkin.[3] As of 2020, it has a car-free section down to Gruzenberg Street, and the municipality is planning to add to this the section between Kalischer Street and Rothschild Boulevard.[4] Continuing southwards, Nahalat Binyamin crosses Jaffa and Florentin Streets, and ends ar Shalma Road.
The street's pedestrian section runs very close to the Carmel food market and Allenby Street, which is one of Tel Aviv's major arteries, and is close to the Kerem HaTeimanim quarter (lit. "Vineyard of the Yemenites"), an old, poorer neighborhood boasting a great number of good eateries, all of which helped Nahalat Binyamin becoming fully commercial, and since 1987 adds to its attractiveness as an arts-and-crafts fair.[1][5]
History
In its early years, Nahalat Binyamin Street was the longest road in Tel Aviv.[1] Along with its residential role, right from the beginning it housed small shops, with many of its first inhabitants being metal craftsmen, as well as booksellers and various shopkeepers.[1]
In the 1920s, a decade of repeated anti-Jewish Arab riots in Jaffa, many Jews left that city and moved to a constantly growing Tel Aviv.[1] At this time Nahalat Binyamin Street became Tel Aviv's main commercial thoroughfare.[1] The houses underwent a process of transformation, additional storeys being added and the shops occupying the bottom floor.[1] The residential buildings of the neighbourhood had been initially planned to be surrounded by gardens,[8] and were built on raised platforms or podiums lining the pavements.[6] Also in the 1920s, the dirt road called Nahalat Binyamin was paved, the workers being mostly women.[3]
The location and length of Nahalat Binyamin made it into a preferred spot for city ceremonies and events, eventually becoming fully commercial.[1]
Before being transformed into a pedestrian mall in 1987, Nahalat Binyamin was one of Tel Aviv's noisiest streets, with some 60,000 vehicles passing through daily.[3] The city decided to close off Nahalat Binyamin and two adjacent streets to vehicles, at the same time establishing the arts-and-crafts fair, the first of its kind in Israel.[1] What began with several dozen stands, by 2011 had reached over 200.[1]
Architecture
Nahalat Binyamin Street has a variety of simple old houses,
Notable buildings
- Polishuk House (Beit Polishuk), at the corner with Allenby Street, 1934, architects Shlomo Liaskovsky and Jacob (Yaakov) Orenstein,[9][7] which after being restored by Israeli architect Nitza Szmuk and with a new interior design by Karim Rashid, now houses the Poli House Hotel.[10]
- Palm Tree House (Beit HaDekel) at 8, Nahalat Binyamin. Built in 1922 after plans by architect Yehoshua Zvi Tabachnik (Tavori), it is among the most extravagant houses on the street, with Oriental and specifically Jewish menorahs and two Stars of David.[3]
- Leitz-Soroka House, 1921, architect Y. Z. Tabachnik, at 10, Nahalat Binyamin. First built by as a one-storey house, it was raised by one floor in 1925 and covered by a tiled roof.[8] Despite having two different owners and spreading across two lots, the house was built and functioned as a single building with a shared stairwell.[8] The impressive Eclectic-Style façade was damaged by changes made from 1926 onwards, when the ground floor was adapted for commercial purposes, as it happened along the entire street.[8] Large show-windows were opened into the main façade, badly affecting their beautiful original design.[8] As of 2020, the building is being restored and expanded, as part of the gentrification process in the area.
- Shmuel Levy House, 1926. Eclectic style, known for its ceramic tiles with biblical themes produced by a Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts graduate.[3]
- Urn House, 1927, designed by architect Zeev Rechter, at 16, Nachlat Binyamin/Rambam Square.[11] The name is derived from the urns or amphorae decorating its corners.[11][3]
- Pillars House (Beit HaAmudim; also Zalman Noah House), 1925 or 1927, designed in the Eclectic Style by architect Yehuda Magidovitch, from 16, Rambam Street to HaTavor (Tabor) Street.[7] Named for its Italian Renaissance-influenced pillars and arches.[11] A large building covering an area of ca. two dunams.[3]
- Spector Hotel, 1914, at 18, Nahalat Binyamin, established by hotelier Elkana Spector.1921 Jaffa riots, afterwards becoming Tel Aviv's main Hadassah Hospital building, until a new one was built on Balfour Street.[11][3] Rami Meiri, a Tel Aviv graffiti artist, has painted the facade at the corner between Binyamin and Mohilever Street.[3]
- Nordau Hotel, 1927, Eclectic Style, by Yehuda Magidovitch, on the corner Nahalat Binyamin–Gruzenberg Street. As of 2015, Tel Aviv's oldest hotel in continuous use.[3]
- 46-48, Nahalat Binyamin - 17, Ahad Ha'am Street. The new Isrotel boutique hotel connects two buildings, both marked for preservation, into one.[6] The building at 46, Nahalat Binyamin Street uniquely shows the historical development typical for the neighborhood and the city as a whole.[6] Built in 1913 after the sketches of the owner as a one-storey residence, it was made of kurkar stones with a tiled roof.[6] The owner was Yaakov Matmon, the brother of Yehuda Leib Matmon-Cohen, one of the founders of Ahuzat Bayit.[6] Later, the ground floor was transformed into a shop, which required it to be lowered, as it had been built up on a podium alongside the pavement.[6] The facade was adapted accordingly, and the tiled gable roof was replaced by a flat roof.[6] The second building, at 48, Nahalat Binyamin Street, was built in 1911 as the home of Rabbi Binyamin (Yehoshua Redler Feldman),[6] mentioned in the #History paragraph.
Other attractions
Tuesdays and Fridays, the Nahalat Binyamin Arts & Crafts Fair, the country's largest, attracts with the work of more than 200 artists selected by a public committee.[5]
Nahalat Binyamin and Florentin are the Tel Aviv neighborhoods with the most vivid graffiti art scene, with rich, unusual and thought-provoking murals.[12]
The neighborhood offers easy access to the Carmel food market, to the Kerem HaTeimanim neighbourhood with its simple grilled-meat eateries and established restaurants, and on to Neve Tzedek,[1][5] a tourist magnet on the way to Jaffa.
External links
- Rabbi Binyamin at The Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem website. Accessed 15 August 2020.
- Rabbi Binyamin, Encyclopaedia Judaica (2008) article, via Jewish Virtual Library. Accessed 15 August 2020.
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Laufer, Adina (20 June 2011). "Tel Aviv's hot spot for arts and crafts". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ "Tel Aviv - Revisited". isramom.blogspot.com. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Bar-Am, Aviva and Shmuel (3 October 2015). "On Tel Aviv's Nahalat Binyamin, a wild mix of eclectic architecture". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ New Pedestrian Streets, Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo, 20 May 2020. Accessed 15 August 2020.
- ^ a b c Steinberg, Jessica (4 August 2011). "Putting art out on the street". ISRAEL21c. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "17 Ahad Ha'am Street corner of Nachlat Binyamin 46-48". Noga Nagarut Ltd. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Living in Benjamin Residential Complex". Peso Gov real estate company. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "10 Nahlat Binyamin, Tel Aviv-Yafo – The Leitz – Soroka House". Amnon Bar Or – Tal Gazit Architects Ltd. 2007. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
- ^ Dvir, Noam (13 July 2011). "Back to the Future / Everything's Up to Date in Tel Aviv. It's 1935". Haaretz. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- ^ Kamin, Debra (21 January 2018). "In Tel Aviv, a Futuristic Hotel With a Past". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 September 2020.
- ^ a b c d e Sign: Tel Aviv - Rambam Square. At streetsigns.co.il. Accessed 15 August 2020.
- ^ "GRAFITLV NACHALAT BINYAMIN". ToDoTLV. Retrieved 15 August 2020.