Bat Galim ( he, בת גלים, ''lit.'' Daughter of the Waves) is a neighborhood of

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, located at the foot of

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/ Elijah), is a ...

on the Mediterranean coast. Bat Galim is known for its promenade and sandy beaches. The neighborhood spans from

Rambam hospital Rambam Health Care Campus ( he, רמב"ם - הקריה הרפואית לבריאות האדם) commonly called Rambam Hospital, is a teaching hospital in the Bat Galim neighborhood of Haifa, Israel founded in 1938, 10 years before the establishme ...

in the North to the Haifa Cable Cars in the South, and from the Mediterranean Sea's shore line in the West to Bat Galim's train station on the East.

History

Bat Galim was the first point of Jewish settlement in modern Haifa. The neighborhood was established in the 1920s as a garden suburb of private homes designed by the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

architect

Richard Kauffmann Richard Kauffmann (1887–1958) was a German-Jewish architect who migrated to Palestine in 1920. His architecture was influenced by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a proponent of the International Style, and was applied to the local landscape, layin ...

. During the British Mandate, Bat Galim was Haifa's entertainment center. The "Casino," a landmark building on the Bat Galim promenade, housed a cafe patronized by British officers, although it was never used for gambling. It was also the center of water sports in the country, and a swimming pool was built there. File:Bat Galim 1932.jpg, Bat Galim 1932 1:20,000 File:Haifa 1945.jpg, Bat Galim 1945 1:250,000

Landmarks

Rambam Medical Center Rambam Health Care Campus ( he, רמב"ם - הקריה הרפואית לבריאות האדם) commonly called Rambam Hospital, is a teaching hospital in the Bat Galim neighborhood of Haifa, Israel founded in 1938, 10 years before the establishme ...

, the Technion's Faculty of Medicine and the Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences are situated in the north of Bat Galim, near the shore. Bat Galim and nearby neighborhoods are served by the

Haifa Bat Galim railway station Haifa Bat Galim railway station ( he, תחנת הרכבת חיפה בת גלים, ''Taḥanat HaRakevet Ḥeifa Bat Gailm'') is an Israel Railways passenger station situated on the coastal railway line and serves the city of Haifa. The station ta ...

. Bat Galim is the lower station of the Haifa Cable Car, which runs up and down the Carmel from Stella Maris.

Demographics

Bat Galim is a mixed neighborhood consisting of families from many different nationalities and socio-economic backgrounds including Jewish families who lived there prior to WWII, hence there's a large elderly presence, many immigrants from the former Soviet Union and Christian and Muslim minorities. In the last several years, Bat Galim has seen an inception of medical students, both native and international, who come to study and intern at the

. The neighborhood also has an eclectic community with many self proclaimed artists and artisans who started an annual tradition where they open their homes to the public for a few days in September to showcase and sell their crafts which include hand-made pottery, glass art, jewelry, photographs and paintings of the neighborhood. This annual event attracts people from all over the country and also features live music, entertainment for the kids, lectures, architectural tours of the city and a speech by the

Mayor of Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropoli ...

Beach and surfing

Bat Galim is a popular location for surfers, including wave, wind and kite surfing, year round, with many international competitions taking place there. Among the surfers, there are many swimmers, with three supervised beaches along the shore including the popular "Lagoona" beach specifically for swimmers and the "Backdoor" beach for wave surfers. More recently, many new SUP, stand up paddle board enthusiasts have joined in the neighborhood's water sports.

References

{{coord, 32, 50, 2.08, N, 34, 58, 54.17, E, display=title Neighborhoods of Haifa Geography of Israel