Mamilla
Encyclopedia
Mamilla was an early neighbourhood constructed outside Jerusalem's Old City west from the Jaffa Gate, and now refers to the $400 million commercial and housing district developed in selected parts of the area.
Mamilla was originally established in the late 19th century as a mixed Jewish-Arab central business district
. Between the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
and the 1967 Six-Day War
, it was located along the armistice line
between the Israeli and Jordanian-held sector
of the city. It went into decline
after many of its buildings were destroyed by Jordanian shelling. After 1967, the government approved an urban renewal
project for Mamilla. Land was apportioned to residential and commercial zones, including hotels and office space, in what was to become one of the longest and most costly development plan
s in the history of modern Jerusalem. Most of the plan was finally realized by the summer of 2007 with the opening of its major mall and entertainment components.
According to other sources the word Mamilla probably stems from the , meaning "that which comes from God". The name may possibly refer to an early church that existed on the site, or perhaps be connected with a Christian Saint of the same name. The area is home to a Mamluk
Mamilla Cemetery
of the same name, and in its centre lies Mamilla Pool
, one of the three reservoir
s constructed by Herod the Great
during the 1st century BCE.
to the east and north, the downtown and Rehavia
neighbourhood above it to the west, and Yemin Moshe
's upward slope along its southwestern edge. Its total area is 120 dunam
(0.12 km², 0.05 mi²).
, with the road to Hebron
outside the Jaffa Gate. Among its first structures was the Hospice Saint Vincent de Paul, part of the emerging Jerusalem French Compound.
The early building developed as an extension of the adjacent souk
along the city walls at the Jaffa Gate as a quarter for merchants and artisans. It became home for commerce and residences that could not find room within the overcrowded Old City, and several of Jerusalem's prominent modern businesses, like the Hotel Fast, were first built here. The Ottoman
authorities lacked urban planning
, and their only major contribution to the neighbourhood was the 1908 erection of a clock tower
atop Jaffa Gate, which only stood a decade until the 1918 British conquest during World War I.
.
Following the approval of the 1947 UN Partition Plan, an Arab mob ransacked and burned much of the district and stabbed some of its Jewish residents in the course of the 1947 Jerusalem riots
, one of the events leading to the area's decades-long stagnation.
commenced, the neighbourhood's location between Israeli and Jordanian forces made it a combat zone, leading to the flight of both Jewish and Arab residents. On May 22, 1948 the US Consul, Thomas C. Wasson
, was assassinated shortly ater leaving the French Consulate in the Mamilla district. After the signing of the 1949 Armistice Agreements
and division of Jerusalem, the western three-quarters of Mamilla were held by Israel and the eastern quarter became a no man's land
of barbed-wire and concrete barricades between Israeli and Jordanian lines. The active and hostile border subjected Mamilla to Jordanian sniper and guerilla attacks, and even stones thrown by Arab Legion
naires from the Old City walls above. The neighbourhood was one of several border areas in the city to experience a sharp decline, and subsequently became home to families of new immigrants
with many children and of weak financial abilities, as well as dirty light industry
like auto repair. In Mamilla in this period, the residents were primarily Kurdish
immigrants and their Israeli children.
, Israeli authorities expanded the municipality to include the Old City and beyond. They tore down the barricades that had lined Mamilla's 19-year border and restored the connections between the formerly-divided sectors. Many buildings on Mamilla's eastern end were in shambles from the years of fighting as well as from the resultant limitations on maintenance. Several historic buildings had to be condemned
. One of these was the Stern House
, which housed Zionist leader Theodor Herzl
on his 1898 visit. However, popular outcry brought Supreme Court
involvement which led to the temporary dismantling and reassembly nearby of this historical landmark.
s (0.1 km², 0.04 mi²) to Karta, the municipal firm led by architects Gilbert Weil and Moshe Safdie
charged with the project, and called for the destruction of almost every building save the French Hospice Saint Vincent de Paul. The plan called for an underground street system overlaid with mixed-use development
, including a pedestrian mall
, parking for 1,000 cars, and a bus terminal
.
This plan evoked massive criticism throughout the city government, although mayor Teddy Kollek
lent full political backing to the plan. When deputy mayor Meron Benvenisti
commissioned a more conservative plan under architect David Kroyanker based on facadism
, the mayor immediately filed it away without any discussion. Karta evicted 700 families, communal institutions, and businesses, placing them in the then-developing neighbourhoods of Baka and Neve Yaakov
, and moved the industry to Talpiot
, the seed of its current industrial zone
. The evictions cost the Israeli government over $60 million and were only completed in 1988, when Mamilla ceased to exist as a neighbourhood and instead became a "compound" slated for future construction.
The evicted residents were mostly Jewish immigrants from Arab states
whose weak financial status left them vulnerable to Kollek's plan. The following steep increase in real-estate values
of formerly depressed areas like Mamilla near the former armistice line and the Old City was perceived by evicted Mizrahi Jews
as an injustice. This became a key issue in 1970s Israeli social upheaval and the founding of the Black Panthers movement in Israel.
incorporating elements of Kroyanker's conservative design moved forward in 1986. The new plan called for the compound to be divided into four areas: a pedestrian mall including a large multi-storey car park
and boulevard
with mixed-use
3-6 storey buildings, terraced residential buildings on its southern end, and two hotels along its border with the downtown. The British Ladbroke Group plc
, which controls the Hilton Hotels Corporation
, won the bid to build the project's main hotel (originally Hilton Jerusalem and now David Citadel Hotel
) and its housing, which it built as a luxury gated community
named David's Village.
Numerous disputes between Karta and Ladbroke led the British firm to exit the project, and its shares were assumed by Alfred Akirov's Alrov company. However, further objections from many sources—including religious groups opposed to an entertainment area so close to the Old City and possible operation on the Jewish Sabbath
—kept construction at a crawl. Both Alrov and Karta accused each other of breach of contract
and sued. After years of frozen construction and drawn-out mediation
, the Jerusalem district court found parts of both parties' complaints to be justified and ordered 100 million NIS paid to Alrov by Karta, which allowed construction to resume.
May 28, 2007 saw the opening of phase one of the shopping mall and part of the 600-meter promenade. The completion of the remainder of the promenade, the Stern House rebuilding, and the other construction, including the 207-room five-star second hotel, is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2008.
Like several other luxury neighbourhoods in the city, apartments in the David's Village development are mostly owned by foreigners who visit for only a few days or weeks a year. Critics contend that this makes it a ghost town
in the city centre.
Mamilla is also the location of the projected Simon Wiesenthal Center
's Center for Human Dignity
, a controversial project because its construction would require building on an old Muslim cemetery.
or The Grove
. Its commercial space is leased at $40 to $80 per square metre to 140 businesses, including international names like Rolex
, MAC, H. Stern
, Nike
, Polo Ralph Lauren
, Nautica, bebe
, and Tommy Hilfiger
, as well as local chains like Castro
, Ronen Chen, Steimatzky Books
, and Cafe Rimon. The mall is also slated to house an IMAX
theatre. The first Gap store in Israel opened in Mamilla mall in fall 2009.
Mamilla was originally established in the late 19th century as a mixed Jewish-Arab central business district
Central business district
A central business district is the commercial and often geographic heart of a city. In North America this part of a city is commonly referred to as "downtown" or "city center"...
. Between the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
and the 1967 Six-Day War
Six-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
, it was located along the armistice line
Green Line (Israel)
Green Line refers to the demarcation lines set out in the 1949 Armistice Agreements between Israel and its neighbours after the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...
between the Israeli and Jordanian-held sector
Rule of the West Bank and East Jerusalem by Jordan
The West Bank and East Jerusalem were occupied by Jordan for a period of nearly two decades starting from the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In 1950, the British extended formal recognition to the union between the Hashemite Kingdom and of that part of Palestine under Jordanian occupation and control -...
of the city. It went into decline
Urban decay
Urban decay is the process whereby a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude...
after many of its buildings were destroyed by Jordanian shelling. After 1967, the government approved an urban renewal
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
project for Mamilla. Land was apportioned to residential and commercial zones, including hotels and office space, in what was to become one of the longest and most costly development plan
Development Plan
A development plan is an aspect of town and country planning in the United Kingdom comprising a set of documents that set out the local authority's policies and proposals for the development and use of land in their area...
s in the history of modern Jerusalem. Most of the plan was finally realized by the summer of 2007 with the opening of its major mall and entertainment components.
Etymology
The name Mamilla may be a corruption of the Hebrew word for 'the filler' (m'malle'), though that is uncertain.According to other sources the word Mamilla probably stems from the , meaning "that which comes from God". The name may possibly refer to an early church that existed on the site, or perhaps be connected with a Christian Saint of the same name. The area is home to a Mamluk
Mamluk
A Mamluk was a soldier of slave origin, who were predominantly Cumans/Kipchaks The "mamluk phenomenon", as David Ayalon dubbed the creation of the specific warrior...
Mamilla Cemetery
Mamilla Cemetery
Mamilla Cemetery is an historic Muslim cemetery located just to the west of the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. The cemetery, at the center of which lies the Mamilla Pool, contains the remains of figures from the early Islamic period, several Sufi shrines and Mamluk-era tombs...
of the same name, and in its centre lies Mamilla Pool
Mamilla Pool
Mamilla Pool is one of several ancient reservoirs that supplied water to the inhabitants of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located outside the wall's of the Old City about 700 yards northwest of Jaffa Gate in the center of the Mamilla Cemetery. With a capacity of 30,000 cubic meters, it is...
, one of the three reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
s constructed by Herod the Great
Herod the Great
Herod , also known as Herod the Great , was a Roman client king of Judea. His epithet of "the Great" is widely disputed as he is described as "a madman who murdered his own family and a great many rabbis." He is also known for his colossal building projects in Jerusalem and elsewhere, including his...
during the 1st century BCE.
Geography
The neighbourhood of Mamilla is located within the northwest extension of the Hinnom Valley, which extends from the southwest corner of the Old City along the city's western wall. The neighbourhood is bounded by the Jaffa Gate and Jaffa RoadJaffa Road
Jaffa Road is one of the longest and oldest 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 Aviv highway. It is lined with shops, businesses and restaurants...
to the east and north, the downtown and Rehavia
Rehavia
Rehavia is an upscale Jerusalem neighborhood located between the city center and Talbiya.-History:Rehavia was established on a large plot of land purchased in 1921 from the Greek Orthodox Church by the Palestine Land Development Company . The area was known at the time as Ginzaria, a native...
neighbourhood above it to the west, and Yemin Moshe
Yemin Moshe
Yemin Moshe " or "Moses' Memorial") is an old neighborhood in Jerusalem, Israel, overlooking the Old City.-History:Yemin Moshe was established in 1891 by Moses Montefiore outside Jerusalem's Old City as a solution to the overcrowding and unsanitary conditions inside the walls, and eventually named...
's upward slope along its southwestern edge. Its total area is 120 dunam
Dunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
(0.12 km², 0.05 mi²).
History
Ottoman control
Prior to construction of the neighbourhood in the late 19th century, the area of Mamilla was empty aside from a few olive trees, and was only notable for the junction of paths that would become Jaffa Road and the highway to JaffaHighway 1 (Israel)
Highway 1 , is the main highway connecting Tel Aviv with Jerusalem.-History:The section between Latrun and Jerusalem roughly follows an ancient path connecting Jaffa and Jerusalem...
, with the road to Hebron
Highway 60 (Israel)
Highway 60 is a north-south intercity road in Israel and the West Bank that stretches from Beersheba to Nazareth.-Route:The route is also known as the "Route of the Patriarchs" since it follows the path of the ancient highway that runs along the length of the central watershed, and which...
outside the Jaffa Gate. Among its first structures was the Hospice Saint Vincent de Paul, part of the emerging Jerusalem French Compound.
The early building developed as an extension of the adjacent souk
Souk
A souq is a commercial quarter in an Arab, Berber, and increasingly European city. The term is often used to designate the market in any Arabized or Muslim city, but in modern times it appears in Western cities too...
along the city walls at the Jaffa Gate as a quarter for merchants and artisans. It became home for commerce and residences that could not find room within the overcrowded Old City, and several of Jerusalem's prominent modern businesses, like the Hotel Fast, were first built here. The Ottoman
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
authorities lacked urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
, and their only major contribution to the neighbourhood was the 1908 erection of a clock tower
Clock tower
A clock tower is a tower specifically built with one or more clock faces. Clock towers can be either freestanding or part of a church or municipal building such as a town hall. Some clock towers are not true clock towers having had their clock faces added to an already existing building...
atop Jaffa Gate, which only stood a decade until the 1918 British conquest during World War I.
British control
The British arrival in Jerusalem heralded a rational philosophy of infrastructure planning and development. It respected cultural and historic heritage and attempted to preserve such elements within the blossoming construction of the modern city. The city walls were identified as such an element, so British workers acted to clear away the stalls on their perimeter and maintain an open area between the walls and the rest of the New City in the interest of an aesthetically pleasing visual basin. By the same token, planners demolished the Ottoman clock tower to preserve a historic skylineSkyline
A skyline is the overall or partial view of a city's tall buildings and structures consisting of many skyscrapers in front of the sky in the background. It can also be described as the artificial horizon that a city's overall structure creates. Skylines serve as a kind of fingerprint of a city, as...
.
Following the approval of the 1947 UN Partition Plan, an Arab mob ransacked and burned much of the district and stabbed some of its Jewish residents in the course of the 1947 Jerusalem riots
1947 Jerusalem riots
The 1947 Jerusalem Riots occurred following the vote in the UN General Assembly in favour of the 1947 UN Partition Plan on 29 November 1947.The Arab Higher Committee declared a three-day strike and public protest to begin on 2 December 1947, in protest at the vote...
, one of the events leading to the area's decades-long stagnation.
Divided city
As the 1948 Arab-Israeli War1948 Arab-Israeli War
The 1948 Arab–Israeli War, known to Israelis as the War of Independence or War of Liberation The war commenced after the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine and the creation of an independent Israel at midnight on 14 May 1948 when, following a period of civil war, Arab armies invaded...
commenced, the neighbourhood's location between Israeli and Jordanian forces made it a combat zone, leading to the flight of both Jewish and Arab residents. On May 22, 1948 the US Consul, Thomas C. Wasson
Thomas C. Wasson
Thomas Campbell Wasson was an American diplomat who was assassinated while serving as the Consul General for the United States in Jerusalem, Palestine. Wasson was also a member of United Nations Truce Commission.-Career:...
, was assassinated shortly ater leaving the French Consulate in the Mamilla district. After the signing of the 1949 Armistice Agreements
1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The agreements ended the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and established armistice lines between Israeli forces and the forces in...
and division of Jerusalem, the western three-quarters of Mamilla were held by Israel and the eastern quarter became a no man's land
No man's land
No man's land is a term for land that is unoccupied or is under dispute between parties that leave it unoccupied due to fear or uncertainty. The term was originally used to define a contested territory or a dumping ground for refuse between fiefdoms...
of barbed-wire and concrete barricades between Israeli and Jordanian lines. The active and hostile border subjected Mamilla to Jordanian sniper and guerilla attacks, and even stones thrown by Arab Legion
Arab Legion
The Arab Legion was the regular army of Transjordan and then Jordan in the early part of the 20th century.-Creation:...
naires from the Old City walls above. The neighbourhood was one of several border areas in the city to experience a sharp decline, and subsequently became home to families of new immigrants
Aliyah
Aliyah is the immigration of Jews to the Land of Israel . It is a basic tenet of Zionist ideology. The opposite action, emigration from Israel, is referred to as yerida . The return to the Holy Land has been a Jewish aspiration since the Babylonian exile...
with many children and of weak financial abilities, as well as dirty light industry
Light industry
Light industry is usually less capital intensive than heavy industry, and is more consumer-oriented than business-oriented...
like auto repair. In Mamilla in this period, the residents were primarily Kurdish
Kurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
immigrants and their Israeli children.
Reunification
After the 1967 Six-Day WarSix-Day War
The Six-Day War , also known as the June War, 1967 Arab-Israeli War, or Third Arab-Israeli War, was fought between June 5 and 10, 1967, by Israel and the neighboring states of Egypt , Jordan, and Syria...
, Israeli authorities expanded the municipality to include the Old City and beyond. They tore down the barricades that had lined Mamilla's 19-year border and restored the connections between the formerly-divided sectors. Many buildings on Mamilla's eastern end were in shambles from the years of fighting as well as from the resultant limitations on maintenance. Several historic buildings had to be condemned
Eminent domain
Eminent domain , compulsory purchase , resumption/compulsory acquisition , or expropriation is an action of the state to seize a citizen's private property, expropriate property, or seize a citizen's rights in property with due monetary compensation, but without the owner's consent...
. One of these was the Stern House
Stern House
The Stern House, is a preserved and reconstructed building in Jerusalem, Israel. The house was built under Ottoman rule in 1877 in the early neighborhood of Mamilla, outside Jerusalem's Old City west from the Jaffa Gate and was rescued during a major reconstruction of the neighborhood in the late...
, which housed Zionist leader Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl , born Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl was an Ashkenazi Jew Austro-Hungarian journalist and the father of modern political Zionism and in effect the State of Israel.-Early life:...
on his 1898 visit. However, popular outcry brought Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Israel
The Supreme Court is at the head of the court system and highest judicial instance in Israel. The Supreme Court sits in Jerusalem.The area of its jurisdiction is all of Israel and the Israeli-occupied territories. A ruling of the Supreme Court is binding upon every court, other than the Supreme...
involvement which led to the temporary dismantling and reassembly nearby of this historical landmark.
Rehabilitation
The 1970s saw numerous proposals for rehabilitating the neighbourhood, and it was defined as a zone of high-priority for reconstruction efforts. The administration responsible for preservation and construction in the Old City took Mamilla under its jurisdiction as well, both because of its proximity and its possession of many of the same considerations that the British weighed when regulating its development. A 1972 master-plan for revitalising the city centre transferred 100 of the 120 dunamDunam
A dunam or dönüm, dunum, donum, dynym, dulum was a non-SI unit of land area used in the Ottoman Empire and representing the amount of land that can be plowed in a day; its value varied from 900–2500 m²...
s (0.1 km², 0.04 mi²) to Karta, the municipal firm led by architects Gilbert Weil and Moshe Safdie
Moshe Safdie
Moshe Safdie, CC, FAIA is an architect, urban designer, educator, theorist, and author. Born in the city of Haifa, then Palestine and now Israel, he moved with his family to Montreal, Canada, when he was 15 years old.-Career:...
charged with the project, and called for the destruction of almost every building save the French Hospice Saint Vincent de Paul. The plan called for an underground street system overlaid with mixed-use development
Mixed-use development
Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...
, including a pedestrian mall
Pedestrian mall
Pedestrian malls in the United States are also known as pedestrian streets and are the most common form of pedestrian zone in large cities in the United States. It is a street lined with storefronts and closed off to most automobile traffic...
, parking for 1,000 cars, and a bus terminal
Bus station
A bus station is a structure where city or intercity buses stop to pick up and drop off passengers. It is larger than a bus stop, which is usually simply a place on the roadside, where buses can stop...
.
This plan evoked massive criticism throughout the city government, although mayor Teddy Kollek
Teddy Kollek
Theodor "Teddy" Kollek was mayor of Jerusalem from 1965 to 1993, and founder of the Jerusalem Foundation. Kollek was re-elected five times, in 1969, 1973, 1978, 1983 and 1989...
lent full political backing to the plan. When deputy mayor Meron Benvenisti
Meron Benvenisti
Meron Benvenisti is an Israeli political scientist who was Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem under Teddy Kollek from 1971 to 1978, during which he administered East Jerusalem and served as Jerusalem's Chief Planning Officer. He is a medieval scholar and published books and maps on the Crusader period in...
commissioned a more conservative plan under architect David Kroyanker based on facadism
Facadism
Façadism is the practice of demolishing a building but leaving its facade intact for the purposes of building new structures in it or around it....
, the mayor immediately filed it away without any discussion. Karta evicted 700 families, communal institutions, and businesses, placing them in the then-developing neighbourhoods of Baka and Neve Yaakov
Neve Yaakov
Neve Yaakov also Neve Ya'aqov, , is a neighborhood located in northeastern Jerusalem, north of Pisgat Ze'ev and south of al-Ram. Established in 1924 during the period of the British Mandate, it was abandoned during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War...
, and moved the industry to Talpiot
Talpiot
Talpiot , is a neighborhood in southeast Jerusalem, Israel, established in 1922 by Zionist pioneers.-Etymology:The name Talpiot derives from a verse in Song of Songs 4:4 – "Thy neck is like the tower of David, built with turrets." According to rabbinic sources, Talpiot refers to the Temple...
, the seed of its current industrial zone
Industrial district
Industrial district was initially introduced as a term to describe an area where workers of a monolithic heavy industry live within walking-distance of their places of work...
. The evictions cost the Israeli government over $60 million and were only completed in 1988, when Mamilla ceased to exist as a neighbourhood and instead became a "compound" slated for future construction.
The evicted residents were mostly Jewish immigrants from Arab states
Jewish exodus from Arab lands
The Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries was a mass departure, flight and expulsion of Jews, primarily of Sephardi and Mizrahi background, from Arab and Muslim countries, from 1948 until the early 1970s...
whose weak financial status left them vulnerable to Kollek's plan. The following steep increase in real-estate values
Gentrification
Gentrification and urban gentrification refer to the changes that result when wealthier people acquire or rent property in low income and working class communities. Urban gentrification is associated with movement. Consequent to gentrification, the average income increases and average family size...
of formerly depressed areas like Mamilla near the former armistice line and the Old City was perceived by evicted Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews
Mizrahi Jews or Mizrahiyim, , also referred to as Adot HaMizrach are Jews descended from the Jewish communities of the Middle East, North Africa and the Caucasus...
as an injustice. This became a key issue in 1970s Israeli social upheaval and the founding of the Black Panthers movement in Israel.
Rebuilding
After 16 years of controversy, during which half-constructed Mamilla remained an eyesore in the heart of the city, a revised plan drawn up by architect Moshe SafdieMoshe Safdie
Moshe Safdie, CC, FAIA is an architect, urban designer, educator, theorist, and author. Born in the city of Haifa, then Palestine and now Israel, he moved with his family to Montreal, Canada, when he was 15 years old.-Career:...
incorporating elements of Kroyanker's conservative design moved forward in 1986. The new plan called for the compound to be divided into four areas: a pedestrian mall including a large multi-storey car park
Multi-storey car park
A multi-storey car-park is a building designed specifically to be for car parking and where there are a number of floors or levels on which parking takes place...
and boulevard
Boulevard
A Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
with mixed-use
Mixed-use development
Mixed-use development is the use of a building, set of buildings, or neighborhood for more than one purpose. Since the 1920s, zoning in some countries has required uses to be separated. However, when jobs, housing, and commercial activities are located close together, a community's transportation...
3-6 storey buildings, terraced residential buildings on its southern end, and two hotels along its border with the downtown. The British Ladbroke Group plc
Ladbrokes
Ladbrokes plc is a British based gambling company. It is based in Rayners Lane in Harrow, London owned by Bhavin Kakaiya. From 14 May 1999 to 23 February 2006, when it owned the Hilton hotel brand outside the United States, it was known as Hilton Group plc...
, which controls the Hilton Hotels Corporation
Hilton Hotels Corporation
Hilton Worldwide is a global hospitality company. It is owned by the Blackstone Group, a private equity firm. As of July 2011 Hilton brands encompass 3,750 hotels with over 600,000 rooms in 84 countries...
, won the bid to build the project's main hotel (originally Hilton Jerusalem and now David Citadel Hotel
David Citadel Hotel
The David Citadel Hotel is a luxury hotel in the center of Jerusalem. The hotel is on King David Street, close to the entrance to the Old City...
) and its housing, which it built as a luxury gated community
Gated community
In its modern form, a gated community is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly-controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences. Gated communities usually consist of small residential...
named David's Village.
Numerous disputes between Karta and Ladbroke led the British firm to exit the project, and its shares were assumed by Alfred Akirov's Alrov company. However, further objections from many sources—including religious groups opposed to an entertainment area so close to the Old City and possible operation on the Jewish Sabbath
Shabbat
Shabbat is the seventh day of the Jewish week and a day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat is observed from a few minutes before sunset on Friday evening until a few minutes after when one would expect to be able to see three stars in the sky on Saturday night. The exact times, therefore, differ from...
—kept construction at a crawl. Both Alrov and Karta accused each other of breach of contract
Breach of contract
Breach of contract is a legal cause of action in which a binding agreement or bargained-for exchange is not honored by one or more of the parties to the contract by non-performance or interference with the other party's performance....
and sued. After years of frozen construction and drawn-out mediation
Mediation
Mediation, as used in law, is a form of alternative dispute resolution , a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties. A third party, the mediator, assists the parties to negotiate their own settlement...
, the Jerusalem district court found parts of both parties' complaints to be justified and ordered 100 million NIS paid to Alrov by Karta, which allowed construction to resume.
May 28, 2007 saw the opening of phase one of the shopping mall and part of the 600-meter promenade. The completion of the remainder of the promenade, the Stern House rebuilding, and the other construction, including the 207-room five-star second hotel, is scheduled to be completed in the spring of 2008.
Like several other luxury neighbourhoods in the city, apartments in the David's Village development are mostly owned by foreigners who visit for only a few days or weeks a year. Critics contend that this makes it a ghost town
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in the city centre.
Mamilla is also the location of the projected Simon Wiesenthal Center
Simon Wiesenthal Center
The Simon Wiesenthal Center , with headquarters in Los Angeles, California, was established in 1977 and named for Simon Wiesenthal, the Nazi hunter. According to its mission statement, it is "an international Jewish human rights organization dedicated to repairing the world one step at a time...
's Center for Human Dignity
Center for Human Dignity
The Center for Human Dignity is the Simon Wiesenthal Center-planned Museum of Tolerance over Mamilla Cemetery at the center of West Jerusalem between Zion Square and the neighbourhood of Mamilla. The construction of the approximately 200-million dollar Museum began in June 2005 and was expected to...
, a controversial project because its construction would require building on an old Muslim cemetery.
Shopping mall
The $150 million, pedestrian-only Mamilla shopping mall has been touted as a luxury destination in the style of Los Angeles' Rodeo DriveRodeo Drive
Rodeo Drive of Beverly Hills, California is a shopping district known for designer label and haute couture fashion. The name generally refers to a three-block long stretch of boutiques and shops but the street stretches further north and south....
or The Grove
The Grove at Farmers Market
The Grove is a retail and entertainment complex in Los Angeles, California, built, owned, and operated by Rick J. Caruso and his company Caruso Affiliated on parts of the historical Farmers Market.-History:...
. Its commercial space is leased at $40 to $80 per square metre to 140 businesses, including international names like Rolex
Rolex
Rolex SA is a Swiss watchmaking manufacturer of high-quality, luxury wristwatches. Rolex watches are popularly regarded as status symbols and BusinessWeek magazine ranks Rolex No.71 on its 2007 annual list of the 100 most valuable global brands...
, MAC, H. Stern
Hans Stern
Hans Stern was a Brazilian jeweler and businessman. He was dubbed the "king of the colored gems" by the New York Times and acclaimed by the international media.-Early life:...
, Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, Polo Ralph Lauren
Polo Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren Corporation is a luxury clothing and goods company of the American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. Ralph Lauren specializes in high-end casual/semi-formal wear for men and women, as well as accessories, fragrances, home and housewares...
, Nautica, bebe
Bebe stores
bebe stores are an American clothing retailer founded in 1976. The name was inspired by, and is pronounced as in, the phrase "to be or not to be" from the play Hamlet. Manny Mashouf, who emigrated to the United States in the early 1970s, opened the first bebe store in San Francisco during a time...
, and Tommy Hilfiger
Tommy Hilfiger
Thomas Jacob "Tommy" Hilfiger is an American fashion designer and founder of the premium lifestyle brand Tommy Hilfiger.-Early life:...
, as well as local chains like Castro
Castro (clothing)
Castro is an Israeli clothing company specializing in men's and women's fashions. Publicly traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, the company is valued at 70 million US dollars....
, Ronen Chen, Steimatzky Books
Steimatzky
Steimatzky , is the oldest and largest bookstore chain in Israel, founded by Yechezkel Steimatzky in 1925.-Early history:The first store opened in 1925 on Jaffa Road in Jerusalem by Yechezkel Steimatzky a Russian-born immigrant from Germany...
, and Cafe Rimon. The mall is also slated to house an IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
theatre. The first Gap store in Israel opened in Mamilla mall in fall 2009.
Further reading
- Mamilla: Prosperity, Decay and Renewal - the Alrov Mamilla Quarter, by David Kroyanker, Keter pub. 2009
- Human Skeletal Remains from the Mamilla cave, Jerusalem
- Encounters- David-s Village- Mamilla Jerusalem Foreign Ministry of IsraelForeign Affairs Minister of IsraelThe Foreign Affairs Minister of Israel is the political head of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The position is one of the most important in the Israeli cabinet after Prime Minister and Defense Minister...
External links
- Mamilla Campaign
- Mamilla-Alrov quarter official website
- Mamilla-Alrov quarter HD Virtual tour
- Israel ShamirIsrael ShamirIsrael Shamir is a writer and journalist. He is a commentator on Arab - Israeli relations and Jewish culture. Originally from Novosibirsk, Siberia, Shamir says he moved to Israel in 1969, serving in the 1973 war, after which he took up journalism and writing...
: Mamilla Pool - Mamilla Hotel Jerusalem
- Alrov Mamilla Avenue
- Mamilla Project at the LCUD site