Davidka Square () is a public square at the intersection of

Jaffa Road Jaffa Road, also called Jaffa Street (; ) is one of the longest and oldest major streets in Jerusalem. It crosses the city from east to west, from the Old City walls to downtown Jerusalem, the western portal of Jerusalem and the Jerusalem-Tel ...

Street of the Prophets Street of the Prophets (, ''Rehov HaNevi'im'') is an east–west axis road in Jerusalem beginning outside Damascus Gate and ending at Davidka Square. Located to the north of Jaffa Road, it bisects the neighborhood of Musrara, Jerusalem, Musrara. ...

, and Pines Street in

West Jerusalem West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , ) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by ...

. Its official name is ''Kikar Haherut'' (). It features a small memorial to the

Davidka The Davidka (, ''"Little David"'' or ''"Made by David"'' ) was a homemade Israeli mortar used in Safed and Jerusalem during 1947–1949 Palestine war. Its bombs were reported to be extremely loud, but very inaccurate and otherwise of little val ...

, a homemade

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

i mortar used in the defense of Jerusalem and other cities during the

1948 Arab–Israeli War The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, also known as the First Arab–Israeli War, followed the 1947–1948 civil war in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Mandatory Palestine as the second and final stage of the 1948 Palestine war. The civil war becam ...

Background

In the early stages of the War of Independence, the Israeli army had no artillery other than a primitive, homemade mortar that was not accurate but that made a thunderous explosion. The noise from this weapon – called the Davidka ("Little David") after its inventor, engineer David Leibovitch – often sent the enemy fleeing in panic. Mistaking the Davidka's explosion for an

atomic bomb A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission or atomic bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions (thermonuclear weapon), producing a nuclear expl ...

, the Arabs abandoned the northern town of

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

. The mortar was also used by the

Harel Brigade The 10th "Harel" Brigade (, ''Hativat Harel'') is a reserve infantry brigade of the Israel Defense Forces, today part of the Southern Command. It played a critical role in the 1948 Palestine war. It is one of the former divisions of the Palmach ...

in its defense of Jerusalem. The Israeli army used the Davidka exclusively until July 1948, when it was able to acquire conventional artillery such as mountain howitzers, cannons and field guns.

Memorial

In 1956 the Jerusalem municipality commissioned a memorial to the Davidka designed by architect Asher Hiram. A Davidka used by the Harel Brigade was mounted on a stone platform engraved with part of the verse from the

Book of Kings Book of Kings may refer to: * Books of Kings in the Bible * ''Shahnameh'', an 11th-century epic Persian poem * ''Pararaton'', the Javanese Book of Kings, a 16th-century Javanese history of southeast Asia * ''The Book of Kings'', a 1999 World War II ...

: "I will defend this city, to save it"
2 Kings 19:34
. Two small, rounded projections on one side of the memorial and one larger protection on the other evoke the shape of the

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

worn by

Palmach The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...

soldiers. On Israeli Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terrorism Remembrance Day, city representatives lay wreaths on the Davidka in memory of the soldiers who died in defense of the city.

Renovation

Davidka Square is one of the few commercial squares in the city. It is surrounded on three sides by shops, and opens on to Jaffa Road, a major commercial artery. For decades it stood as a dreary, gray corner. In 2009, when work on the

Jerusalem Light Rail The Jerusalem Light Rail (, ''HaRakevet HaKala Birushalayim'', , ''Qiṭār Al-Quds Al-Khafīf'') is a light rail system in Jerusalem. Currently, the Red Line (Jerusalem Light Rail), Red Line is the only one in operation, the first of several ...

project necessitated extensive infrastructure and redesign work on all three squares on Jaffa Road – the others being Tzahal Square near the Old City walls and

Zion Square Zion Square () is a public square in Jerusalem, located at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Ben Yehuda Street (Jerusalem), Ben Yehuda Street, Herbert Samuel Street, and Yoel Moshe Salomon Street. The square is one of the Vertex (geometry), verti ...

– the Jerusalem municipality hired

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

architect

Ricardo Legorreta Ricardo Legorreta Vilchis (May 7, 1931 – December 30, 2011) was a Mexican architect. He was a prolific designer of private houses, public buildings and master plans in Mexico, the United States and some other countries. He was awarded the pres ...

to renovate Davidka Square. Legorreta's plan enlarged the area designated for pedestrians and greenery to . He paved the square with reddish stones and added a blue trench as a "water element". To emphasize the historical importance of the site, Legorretta also designed elements on a double scale. These include a wall measuring high and wide, covered by red ceramic plaques, allowing the square "to be identified from far away" and stone columns in height that function as "vertical lamps" during the night. The standout design elements generated controversy among Jerusalem residents when they were first proposed. A public protest led by the Lemallah grassroots citizens watch group, which produced a YouTube video, circulated a petition, and brought protesters to city planning meetings, nixed the red wall installation.

Adjacent structures

In 2011 the Abraham Hostel opened in Davidka Square which was ranked 8th best large hostel in the world by HostelWorld.com. The future inter-city Jerusalem–Central railway station is planned for construction underground nearby the square.

Other Davidka memorials

Another Davidka memorial stands a few meters south of Safed's Town Hall, opposite the old British police station. The memorial, established on 29 April 1956 and renovated in the 2000s, includes an engraved stone marker and an audio information post relating information about the liberation of Safed in both Hebrew and English, along with seating for tour groups. Every year on Israel's Remembrance Day, the city conducts a wreath-laying ceremony here. A Davidka also stands on display at the Beit Hativat Givati Museum in Metzudat Yoav.

References

External links

Photo of the Davidka memorial in Safed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidka Square Squares in Jerusalem Monuments and memorials in Israel Jaffa Road Street of the Prophets, Jerusalem Ricardo Legorreta buildings 1956 establishments in Israel Buildings and structures completed in 1956