
Jaffa Road, also called Jaffa Street (; ) is one of the longest and oldest major streets in
Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. 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 Aviv highway. It is lined with shops, businesses, and restaurants. It joins with
Ben Yehuda Street and
King George Street to form the
Downtown Triangle central business district. Major landmarks along Jaffa Road are
Tzahal Square (
IDF square),
Safra Square
Safra Square (, ''Kikar Safra'') is a city square in Jerusalem. It is the site of the Jerusalem Municipality complex, which houses the municipal administration. Safra Square is located in a central part of the city, near the former seam line be ...
(city hall),
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 ...
,
Davidka Square
Davidka Square () is a public square at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Street of the Prophets, and Pines Street in West Jerusalem. Its official name is ''Kikar Haherut'' (). It features a small memorial to the Davidka, a homemade Israeli Mortar ( ...
, the triple intersection (''Hameshulash'') at King George V Street and
Straus Street
Straus Street (, ''Rehov Straus'') is a north-south road in north-central Jerusalem. It starts at Jaffa Road and extends to Kikar HaShabbat (Sabbath Square), which marks the intersection of five streets: Straus Street, Yeshayahu Street, Malkhei ...
, the
Ben Yehuda Street pedestrian mall
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...
, the
Mahane Yehuda market
Mahane Yehuda Market (), often referred to as "The Shuk" (), is a marketplace (originally open-air, but now partially covered) in Jerusalem. Popular with locals and tourists alike, the market's more than 250 vendors sell fresh fruits and vegetable ...
, and the
Jerusalem Central Bus Station. Most of Jaffa Road has been redeveloped as a car-free
pedestrian mall
Pedestrian zones (also known as auto-free zones and car-free zones, as pedestrian precincts in British English, and as pedestrian malls in the United States and Australia) are areas of a city or town restricted to use by people on foot or ...
served by 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 ...
. The
Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon railway station
Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon Railway Station (, ''Tahanat HaRakevet Yerushalaim–Yitzhak Navon''; ), originally named Jerusalem–HaUma railway station is an Israel Railways passenger terminal in Jerusalem, located at 6 Shazar Avenue.
The station ...
is located directly adjacent to the Central Bus Station.
History
Originally paved in 1861 as part of the highway to
Jaffa
Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
, the road quickly became a focal point for the
19th century expansion out of Jerusalem's Old City walls, and early neighbourhoods like the
Russian Compound
The Russian Compound (; ; ) is one of the oldest districts in central Jerusalem, featuring a large Russian Orthodox church, the Russian-owned Sergei's Courtyard and the premises of the Russian Consulate General in Jerusalem, as well as the si ...
,
Nahalat Shiva
Nahalat Shiv'a () is a former courtyard neighborhood in Jerusalem. It was the third Jewish neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem in the 1860s. Today it is a crowded pedestrian promenade lined with sidewalk cafes. It ...
, and
Mahane Yehuda blossomed around it, as well as
Shaare Zedek hospital. Proximity to the artery quickly became a measure of real-estate value in the booming city. Traffic originally consisted of camels and mules, and the route was eventually improved enough to allow for horse-drawn
carriage
A carriage is a two- or four-wheeled horse-drawn vehicle for passengers. In Europe they were a common mode of transport for the wealthy during the Roman Empire, and then again from around 1600 until they were replaced by the motor car around 1 ...
s. The German
Templers
Templers may refer to:
* Templers, South Australia is a town in South Australia
* Templers (religious believers)
The German Templer Society, also known as Templers, is a Radical Pietist group that emerged in Germany during the mid-nineteenth ...
, who established the
German Colony, first began a regular carriage service along the road to Jaffa.

During the period of the
British Mandate, the street was further developed with the establishment of many central institutions including the city hall, the city's central post office, the
Anglo-Palestine Bank
Bank Leumi (, lit. ''National Bank''; ) is an Israeli bank. It was founded on February 27, 1902, in Jaffa as the ''Anglo Palestine Company'' as subsidiary of the Jewish Colonial Trust () Limited formed before in London by members of the Zionist ...
, and the
Generali office building. The buildings on its easternmost end constructed along the Old City walls were destroyed in July 1944 so as not to obscure the city's historic view. During this period the street took on its modern shape, and it became the heart of the city's developing
central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
as most commerce left the Old City. During the city's 19-year division between Israel and Jordan after the
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
, which separated the Old City from much of modern Jerusalem, Jaffa Road's primacy as the city-centre was unchallenged.
The
Jerusalem Municipality
The Jerusalem Municipality (), the seat of the Israeli municipal administration, consists of a number of buildings located on Jaffa Road in the city of Jerusalem.
History
British Mandate town hall (1930)
Jerusalem's old town hall was bui ...
, Jerusalem's main post office, the
Mahane Yehuda Market
Mahane Yehuda Market (), often referred to as "The Shuk" (), is a marketplace (originally open-air, but now partially covered) in Jerusalem. Popular with locals and tourists alike, the market's more than 250 vendors sell fresh fruits and vegetable ...
are located on Jaffa Road. As a bustling thoroughfare, it has been targeted by terrorist groups and some of the most devastating terrorist attacks from the late 1960s onward have been carried out on this street, among them the
Zion Square refrigerator bombing
The Zion Square refrigerator bombing was a terrorist attack carried out in Zion Square, Jerusalem on July 4, 1975. A Palestinian exploded a booby-trapped refrigerator which contained 5 kilograms (11 lb) of explosives inside an appliance store, ...
(1975), the
1984 Jaffa Road attack, the
Jaffa Road bus bombings
Palestinian suicide attacks using bombs were carried out on two No. 18 buses on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem, in 1996. Hamas suicide bombers killed 45 people in the attacks, which were masterminded by Mohammed Deif, using explosives prepared by ...
(1996), the
Sbarro restaurant suicide bombing
A Palestinian suicide attacks, Palestinian suicide bombing at a pizzeria in downtown Jerusalem on 9 August 2001 killed 16 people, including seven children and a pregnant woman. A further 130 were wounded. The attack occurred during the Second I ...
(2001), and the
Jaffa Street bombing
The 2002 Jaffa Street bombing was a suicide bombing which occurred on January 27, 2002, in the center of Jerusalem. One civilian was killed and about 100 civilians injured.
The attack
On Sunday, January 27, 2002, the 28-year-old Palestinian sui ...
(2002).
For much of its hundred-year existence, Jaffa Road has served as Jerusalem's central artery. The municipality responded to problems in the struggling city-centre through focused efforts to redevelop the street; Jaffa Road was limited to public transit (buses and taxis) in an attempt to divert
traffic congestion
Traffic congestion is a condition in transport that is characterized by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. Traffic congestion on urban road networks has increased substantially since the 1950s, resulting in m ...
from the area, and became the centrepiece of a new development plan for revitalising the downtown. A tunnel was excavated under the street at
Tzahal Square in 2004 to allow the city's
central north-south route to bypass it. In order to accommodate the new system, new utility lines were laid under one side of the road, which was also widened. 180 properties were evacuated to allow for the road's improvement.
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 ...
began operating in 2011. At the western end of Jaffa Road, opposite the
Central Bus Station, it passes over Jaffa Road via
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spaniards, Spanish-Swiss people, Swiss architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stad ...
's
Chords Bridge
The Chords Bridge (, ''Gesher HaMeitarim''), also called the Bridge of Strings or Jerusalem Light Rail Bridge, is a side-spar cable-stayed bridge in Jerusalem. The structure was designed by the Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava ...
, which serves as an architectural beacon for the area.
Significant buildings and landmarks
East to west on historical Jaffa Road:
*
Jaffa Gate
Jaffa Gate (; , "Hebron Gate") is one of the seven main open gates of the Old City of Jerusalem.
The name Jaffa Gate is currently used for both the historical Ottoman gate from 1538, and for the wide gap in the city wall adjacent to it to the ...
*
Jerusalem Old Town Hall
*
Safra Square
Safra Square (, ''Kikar Safra'') is a city square in Jerusalem. It is the site of the Jerusalem Municipality complex, which houses the municipal administration. Safra Square is located in a central part of the city, near the former seam line be ...
with the
Jerusalem Municipality
The Jerusalem Municipality (), the seat of the Israeli municipal administration, consists of a number of buildings located on Jaffa Road in the city of Jerusalem.
History
British Mandate town hall (1930)
Jerusalem's old town hall was bui ...
complex
*
Bank Leumi
Bank Leumi (, lit. ''National Bank''; ) is an Israeli bank. It was founded on February 27, 1902, in Jaffa as the ''Anglo Palestine Company'' as subsidiary of the Jewish Colonial Trust () Limited formed before in London by members of the Zionism, ...
(former Anglo-Palestine Bank) main branch building, by architect
Erich Mendelsohn
Erich Mendelsohn (); 21 March 1887 – 15 September 1953) was a German-British architect, known for his expressionist architecture in the 1920s, as well as for developing a dynamic functionalism in his projects for department stores and cinem ...
*
Central Post Office Building (Jerusalem)
The Central post office building is a British Mandate-era building on Jaffa Street in Jerusalem.
History
The building was built as General Post Office during the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate, one of three government buildings in this ...
, by architects
Austen Harrison and Percy Harold Winter
*
Generali Building, by leading Fascist architect
Marcello Piacentini
Marcello Piacentini (8 December 188119 May 1960) was an Italian people, Italian urban theorist and one of the main proponents of Italian Fascist architecture.
Biography
Early career
Born in Rome, he was the son of architect Pio Piacentini. He ...
*
Russian Compound
The Russian Compound (; ; ) is one of the oldest districts in central Jerusalem, featuring a large Russian Orthodox church, the Russian-owned Sergei's Courtyard and the premises of the Russian Consulate General in Jerusalem, as well as the si ...
borders to the south on Jaffa Road
*
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 ...
*
Mashiach Borochoff House, 1908 villa
*
Davidka Square
Davidka Square () is a public square at the intersection of Jaffa Road, Street of the Prophets, and Pines Street in West Jerusalem. Its official name is ''Kikar Haherut'' (). It features a small memorial to the Davidka, a homemade Israeli Mortar ( ...
*
Zoharei Chama Synagogue
*
Mahane Yehuda Market
Mahane Yehuda Market (), often referred to as "The Shuk" (), is a marketplace (originally open-air, but now partially covered) in Jerusalem. Popular with locals and tourists alike, the market's more than 250 vendors sell fresh fruits and vegetable ...
*
Ohel Shlomo
Ohel Shlomo (, lit. "Tent of Solomon") is a historical courtyard neighborhood in western Jerusalem. It is one of a series of courtyard neighborhoods built along Jaffa Road in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, together with Sha'arei Yerush ...
, former courtyard neighborhood, partially demolished
*
Sha'arei Yerushalayim
Sha'arei Yerushalayim (, ''Gates of Jerusalem'') is a former courtyard neighborhood in western Jerusalem. It is one of a series of courtyard neighborhoods built along Jaffa Road in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, together with Ohel Shlo ...
, former courtyard neighborhood, partially demolished and the adjacent
Batei Saidoff (Saidoff Houses)
*
Shaare Zedek hospital (old building, 1902–1980, aka "Wallach" or "Amsterdam Hospital")
*
Jerusalem Central Bus Station and the adjacent
Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon railway station
Jerusalem–Yitzhak Navon Railway Station (, ''Tahanat HaRakevet Yerushalaim–Yitzhak Navon''; ), originally named Jerusalem–HaUma railway station is an Israel Railways passenger terminal in Jerusalem, located at 6 Shazar Avenue.
The station ...
*
Chords Bridge
The Chords Bridge (, ''Gesher HaMeitarim''), also called the Bridge of Strings or Jerusalem Light Rail Bridge, is a side-spar cable-stayed bridge in Jerusalem. The structure was designed by the Spanish architect and engineer Santiago Calatrava ...
(2008) by architect
Santiago Calatrava
Santiago Calatrava Valls (born 28 July 1951) is a Spaniards, Spanish-Swiss people, Swiss architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stad ...
Gallery
File:Rakevet kala.jpg, A mural
A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' ...
on Jaffa Road depicting artist's vision of 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 ...
in operation.
File:Jaffa road jerusalem.png, Jaffa road Jerusalem
Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
File:Jerusalem Light Rail in Zion Square on A Rainy morning - November 2011.jpg, Jaffa Road in the rain
File:A. Salzmann - Porte de Jaffa, intérieur - Jerusalem.jpg, Interior of Jaffa Gate
Jaffa Gate (; , "Hebron Gate") is one of the seven main open gates of the Old City of Jerusalem.
The name Jaffa Gate is currently used for both the historical Ottoman gate from 1538, and for the wide gap in the city wall adjacent to it to the ...
in 1856
File:Wilhelm Jaffa Road.jpg, Visit of Wilhelm II
Wilhelm II (Friedrich Wilhelm Viktor Albert; 27 January 18594 June 1941) was the last German Emperor and King of Prussia from 1888 until Abdication of Wilhelm II, his abdication in 1918, which marked the end of the German Empire as well as th ...
of Germany, 1898
File:Portail AIU.JPG, Gate of the school of Alliance israélite universelle
The Alliance israélite universelle (AIU; ; ) is a Paris-based international Jewish organization founded in 1860 with the purpose of safeguarding human rights for Jews around the world. It promotes the ideals of Jewish self-defense and self-suffi ...
(1882), on Jaffa Road
File:Shaaey old.JPG, Original Shaare Zedek hospital building on Jaffa Road, now headquarters of the Israel Broadcasting Authority
The Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA; ) was Israel's public broadcaster from 1948 to 2017, succeeded by the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation.
History
The Israel Broadcasting Authority was an outgrowth of the radio station '' Kol Yi ...
File:ShaareZedek.jpg, Groundbreaking for the original Shaare Zedek hospital, 1901.
File:Jerusalem_Bezalel_British_Mandate_Jaffa_road_sign.JPG, A fancy street sign, designed by the artists of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design () is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest institution of higher education and is considered the ...
in the 1920s.
See also
*
Expansion of Jerusalem in the 19th century
The expansion of Jerusalem outside of the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City walls, which included shifting the city center to the new neighborhoods, started in the mid-19th century and by the early 20th century had entirely transformed the city. Prio ...
References
External links
Jaffa Road history on the Jerusalem Municipality website
{{Authority control
Streets in Jerusalem
Late modern history of Jerusalem
Downtown Triangle (Jerusalem)