The Paris Square ( he, כיכר פריז; ar, ساحة باريس) also known as Hamra Square or the Churches District is a public square in
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 in Downtown Haifa. It was built during the
Ottoman period
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
.
History
The Hamra Square was a public space created in Haifa during the Ottoman period. It was surrounded by a market,
Carmelite (St. Elias Carmelite Church) and
Maronite (
St. Louis the King Cathedral, Haifa
The St. Louis the King Cathedral ( ar, كاتدرائية القديس لويس الملك, he, קתדרלת לואי הקדוש), or the Maronite Church of St. Louis, is a Catholic church of the Maronite Eastern rite located in Haifa, in norther ...
) churches, hotels, etc.
In 1935; the
Carmelite order commissioned italian architect Giovanni Borra to design the area bordering on Paris Square (Khamra) from the norh and adjacent to the Carmelite Monastery, which called later the "Carmelite Compound". The buildings were designed in the International Style with Tubzeh (split face) and Musamsam (light chiseled) stone cladding. The result: two spectacular three-story and five-story blocks on the corners that defiine Eliyahu Hanavi St., surrounded on both sides by a portico and comerece.
In 1954, when the Israeli government commissioned the
Carmelit funicular
A funicular (, , ) is a type of cable railway system that connects points along a railway track laid on a steep slope. The system is characterized by two counterbalanced carriages (also called cars or trains) permanently attached to opposite e ...
subway system from a
French company, it decided to rename the area to Paris Square as a friendly gesture to the French. The station next to the square was named Paris Square as well.
In 2018 the Paris Square Carmelit station was renamed Downtown Station. It is the lower terminus of the Carmelit.
In 2011, the square was renovated,
and its reopening ceremony was attended by the mayor of
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
at the time,
Bertrand Delanoë
Bertrand Delanoë (; born 30 May 1950) is a French retired politician who served as Mayor of Paris from 2001 to 2014. A member of the Socialist Party (PS), he previously served in the National Assembly from 1981 to 1986 and Senate from 1995 unt ...
.
"HAIFA. Visite de M.Bertrand Delanoë, maire de la ville de Paris"
''Ambafrance.org''. June 2008.
Gallery
File:Place de Paris -Israel - 1920s.jpg, Hamra square in 1920
File:Hamra square - Haifa (3).jpg, Hamra square in 1934
File:PikiWiki Israel 70328 haifa downtown.jpg, Old house in Paris Square
File:PikiWiki Israel 33565 Cities in Israel.JPG, Maronite St. Louis the King Cathedral in Paris Square
Il Carmelite Compound, Haifa.jpg, The Carmelite Compound in Paris Square
File:Carmelite Church Kikar Paris.jpg, Carmelite Church of Elijah the Prophet in Paris Square
See also
*German Colony, Haifa
The German Colony (''HaMoshava HaGermanit'') ( he, המושבה הגרמנית, ar, الحي الألمانية) was established in Ottoman Haifa in 1868 as a Christian German Templer Colony in Palestine. It was the first of several colonies est ...
*Wadi Nisnas
Wadi Nisnas ( ar, وادي النسناس; he, ואדי ניסנאס) is a formerly mixed Jewish and Arab neighborhood in the city of Haifa in northern Israel, which is becoming mixed again. ''Nisnas'' is the Arabic word for mongoose, an indigen ...
*Wadi Salib
Wadi Salib ( ar, وادي صليب, he, ואדי סאליב; lit. Valley of the Cross) is a primarily Palestinian neighbourhood located in downtown Haifa, Israel, on the lower northeastern slope of Mount Carmel, between the Hadar HaCarmel and th ...
References
External links
*
Squares in Israel
Geography of Haifa
Tourist attractions in Haifa
Arab Israeli culture in Haifa
{{Israel-geo-stub