The expansion of Jerusalem in the 19th century, also referred to as the departure from the walls, was the process of building new residences outside of the Old City walls, and shifting the city center to the new neighborhoods. The process started in the mid-19th century and by the early 20th century had entirely transformed the city. Prior to the 19th century, the main built up areas outside the walls were the King David's Tomb complex on the southern

Mount Zion Mount Zion ( he, הַר צִיּוֹן, ''Har Ṣīyyōn''; ar, جبل صهيون, ''Jabal Sahyoun'') is a hill in Jerusalem, located just outside the walls of the Old City (Jerusalem), Old City. The term Mount Zion has been used in the Hebrew ...

and the village of

Silwan Silwan or Siloam ( ar, سلوان, translit=Silwan; gr, Σιλωὰμ, translit=Siloam; he, כְּפַר הַשִּׁילוֹחַ, translit=''Kfar ha-Shiloaḥ'') is a predominantly Palestinian neighborhood in East Jerusalem, on the outski ...

. In the mid 19th century, with an area of only one square kilometer, the Old City had become overcrowded and unsanitary, with rental prices on a constant rise. In the mid-1850s, following the

Crimean War The Crimean War, , was fought from October 1853 to February 1856 between Russia and an ultimately victorious alliance of the Ottoman Empire, France, the United Kingdom and Piedmont-Sardinia. Geopolitical causes of the war included the de ...

, institutions including the

Russian Compound The Russian Compound ( he, מִגְרַשׁ הָרוּסִים, ''Migraš ha-Rusim'', ar, المسكوبية, ''al-Muskubīya'', russian: Русское подворье в Иерусалиме) is one of the oldest districts in central Jer ...

Kerem Avraham Kerem Avraham, in English Abraham's Vineyard, is a neighbourhood near Geula in central Jerusalem, founded in 1855. It is bounded by Malkhei Yisrael Street, Yechezkel Street, Tzefanya Street, and the Schneller Compound. The 1855 mission house wa ...

, the

Schneller Orphanage Schneller Orphanage, also called the Syrian Orphanage, was a German Protestant orphanage that operated in Jerusalem from 1860 to 1940. It was one of the first structures to be built outside the Old City of Jerusalem – the others being Kerem Av ...

, Bishop Gobat school and the

Mishkenot Sha'ananim , settlement_type = Neighborhood of Jerusalem , image_skyline = שכונת משכנות שאננים וטחנת הרוח. צולם מכיוון העיר העתיקה.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = View of Mishkenot ...

, marked the beginning of permanent settlement outside the Jerusalem Old City walls.

History

In 1855, Johann Ludwig Schneller, a Lutheran missionary who came to Jerusalem at the age of 34, bought a plot of land outside the Old City walls when the area was a complete wilderness. He built a house there but was forced to move his family back inside the walls after several attacks by marauders. When the Turks erected outposts along

Jaffa Road Jaffa Road ( he, רחוב יפו, Rehov Yaffo; ar, شارع يافا) 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 Jer ...

, between Jerusalem and the port city of

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

, and armed guards on horseback patrolled the road, the family returned. The public institutions were followed by the development of two philanthropically supported Jewish neighborhoods,

Mishkenot Sha’ananim , settlement_type = Neighborhood of Jerusalem , image_skyline = שכונת משכנות שאננים וטחנת הרוח. צולם מכיוון העיר העתיקה.jpg , imagesize = 300px , image_caption = View of Mishkenot ...

and

Mahane Israel Mahane Israel (Hebrew: מחנה ישראל, Mahaneh Yisra'el) is the second Jewish neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem after Mishkenot Shaananim.

( he, משכנות שאננים) was the first

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, on a hill directly across from

. It was built by

Sir Moses Montefiore Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, afte ...

in 1860 as an almshouse, paid for by the estate of a wealthy Jew from

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Judah Touro Judah Touro (June 16, 1775 – January 18, 1854) was an American businessman and philanthropist. Early life and career Touro's father Isaac Touro of Holland was chosen as the hazzan at the Touro Synagogue in 1762, a Portuguese Sephardic congre ...

. Not available on Google Books as of August 2021. Since it was outside the walls and open to

Bedouin The Bedouin, Beduin, or Bedu (; , singular ) are nomadic Arab tribes who have historically inhabited the desert regions in the Arabian Peninsula, North Africa, the Levant, and Mesopotamia. The Bedouin originated in the Syrian Desert and A ...

raids, pillage and general banditry rampant in the region at the time, the Jews were reluctant to move in, even though the housing was luxurious compared to the derelict and overcrowded houses in the Old City. As an incentive, people were paid to live there, and a wall was built around the compound with a heavy door that was locked at night. The name of the neighborhood was taken from the

Book of Isaiah The Book of Isaiah ( he, ספר ישעיהו, ) is the first of the Latter Prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Major Prophets in the Christian Old Testament. It is identified by a superscription as the words of the 8th-century BC ...

32:18: "My people will abide in ''peaceful habitation'', in secure dwellings and in quiet resting places."

Mahane Israel Mahane Israel (Hebrew: מחנה ישראל, Mahaneh Yisra'el) is the second Jewish neighborhood built outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem after Mishkenot Shaananim.Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: מחנה ישראל), founded in 1867, was the second Jewish neighborhood to be built outside the walls of the Old City. Mahane Israel was a "communal neighborhood" and was built by and for

Maghrebi Jews :''See Mashriqi Jews for more information about Jews in the rest of North Africa and Western Asia.'' Maghrebi Jews ( or , ''Maghrebim'') or North African Jews ( ''Yehudei Tzfon Africa'') are ethnic Jews who had traditionally lived in the Maghre ...

Nahalat Shiv'a Nahalat Shiv'a ( he, נחלת שבעה) 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 ...

was the third residential neighborhood built outside the city walls. It was founded in 1869 as a cooperative effort by seven Jerusalem families who pooled their funds to purchase the land and build homes. Lots were cast and

Yosef Rivlin Yosef Yitzhak "Yoshya" Rivlin ( he, יוסף יצחק "יושעה" ריבלין, 18 December 1836 – 5 September 1896) was an Orthodox Jewish scholar, writer, and community leader in the Old Yishuv of Jerusalem. Scion of a family of Perushim, di ...

won the right to build the first house in the neighborhood. The neighborhoods that make up the

Nachlaot Nachlaot ( he, נחלאות, also ''Naḥlaʾoth'') is a cluster of 23 courtyard neighborhoods in central Jerusalem surrounding the Mahane Yehuda Market. It is known for its narrow, winding lanes, old-style housing, hidden courtyards and many smal ...

district were established outside the walls in the late 1870s. The first was Mishkenot Yisrael, built in 1875. The name comes from a biblical verse (Numbers 24:5): "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob/Thy dwellings, O Israel." Mazkeret Moshe was founded by Sir

Moses Montefiore Sir Moses Haim Montefiore, 1st Baronet, (24 October 1784 – 28 July 1885) was a British financier and banker, activist, philanthropist and Sheriff of London. Born to an Italian Sephardic Jewish family based in London, afte ...

in 1882 as an

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

neighborhood. Ohel Moshe is a Sephardi neighborhood established alongside it. In 1875, Nissan Beck founded the Jewish neighborhood

Kirya Ne'emana Kirya Ne'emana ( he, קִרְיָה נֶאֱמָנָה, "Faithful City"), commonly known as Batei Nissan Bak ( he, בתי ניסן בק, "Nissan Beck Houses") was a historical Hasidic Judaism, Hasidic Jewish neighborhood established opposite Damasc ...

, popularly known as ''Batei Nissan Bak'' ("Nissan Beck Houses"). Beck bought the land and paid for the construction of the neighborhood, opposite the

Damascus Gate The Damascus Gate is one of the main Gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. It is located in the wall on the city's northwest side and connects to a highway leading out to Nablus, which in the Hebrew Bible was called Shechem or Sichem, and from the ...

of the Old City, under the auspices of Kollel Vohlin. The neighborhood was originally intended for

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

Jews, but due to lack of financing, only 30 of the planned 60 houses were constructed. The remainder of the land was apportioned to several other groups:

Syrian Syrians ( ar, سُورِيُّون, ''Sūriyyīn'') are an Eastern Mediterranean ethnic group indigenous to the Levant. They share common Levantine Semitic roots. The cultural and linguistic heritage of the Syrian people is a blend of both indi ...

, Iraqi, and

Persian Jews Persian Jews or Iranian Jews ( fa, یهودیان ایرانی, ''yahudiān-e-Irāni''; he, יהודים פרסים ''Yəhūdīm Parsīm'') are the descendants of Jews who were historically associated with the Persian Empire, whose successor ...

. In the 1890s another neighborhood, Eshel Avraham, was erected next to Kirya Ne'emana for

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

and Caucasian Jews. Nahalat Shimon was founded in 1891 by

Sephardic Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

and

Jewish

Kollel A kollel ( he, כולל, , , a "gathering" or "collection" f scholars is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim (lectures) and learning ''sedarim'' (sessions); ...

s, to house poor Yemenite and Sephardic Jews. The land was purchased in 1890 and the first homes were built soon after, housing 20 impoverished families. The cornerstone of the neighborhood was laid in 1890, near the

Tomb of Simeon the Just The Tomb of Simeon the Just or Simeon the Righteous ( he, קבר שמעון הצדיק; translit. ''Kever Shimon haTzadik'') is an ancient tomb in Jerusalem. According to scholarly consensus, based on an ''in situ'' inscription, it is the 2nd-ce ...

.Glass & Kark (2007), p
254
(as of 23 August 2021 not accessible via Google Books)

Timeline

Based on "Jerusalem and Its Environs: Quarters, Neighborhoods, Villages, 1800-1948" by

Ruth Kark Ruth Kark ( he, רות קרק; born 1941) is an Israeli historical geographer and professor of geography at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Professor Kark is a well-known researcher and expert in the field of the historical geography of Palest ...

and Michal Oren-Nordheim (2001). The years refer to the time the neighbourhoods actually started being inhabited, not the land purchase and construction phase. *1853: the Bishop Gobat School (est. 1847) moves to a building next to the Protestant Mount Zion Cemetery *1855: British Consul

James Finn James Finn (1806–1872) was a British Consul in Jerusalem, in the then Ottoman Empire (1846–1863). He arrived in 1845 with his wife Elizabeth Anne Finn. Finn was a devout Christian, who belonged to the London Society for Promoting Christia ...

builds the main house at Abraham's Vineyard (Hebrew:

), the farm he established for Jewish Jerusalemites *1855-56: Johann Ludwig Schneller builds himself a family house, the nucleus of the Syrian Orphanage or

, which would take shape in 1860-61 *1860: the

Jewish neighbourhood is built by Moses Montefiore *1860-64: the

's first building, the women's hospice is being built, followed until 1903 by all the rest *1864 Aga Rashid

Nashashibi Nashashibi ( ar, النشاشيبي; transliteration, Al-Nashāshībī) is the name of a prominent Palestinian family based in Jerusalem. After the First World War, during the British period, Raghib al-Nashashibi was Mayor of Jerusalem (1920–1 ...

builds his residence, now known as

Ticho House Ticho House ( he, בית טיכו, ''Beit Tikho'') is a historical home in Jerusalem, now a museum administered as part of the Israel Museum. It was one of the first homes built outside the Old City walls in the 19th century. History Ticho Hou ...

*1865-79: the Mahaneh Yisra'el Jewish neighbourhood *1865-90s: the Husaini Neighborhood, Muslim Arab, starting in 1865-76 with the villa of Rabbah Effendi al-Husaini *1869: the

Jewish neighbourhood *1870s: the Mas'udiya Muslim Arab neighbourhood *1872-76: the "Georgian Houses" Jewish neighbourhood facing

*1873: the German Colony gets started with individual houses; the Templer colony follows in 1878 *1873: the Beit David Jewish neighbourhood (Yanover Houses) *1874-75: the

Mea Shearim Mea Shearim ( he, מאה שערים, lit., "hundred gates"; contextually, "a hundred fold") is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem outside of the Old City. It is populated by Haredi Jews, and was built by members of the Old Yish ...

Jewish neighbourhood *1875: the Even Yisrael Jewish neighbourhood, now part of

*1875-76: the Mishkenot Yisrael Jewish neighbourhood, now part of Nachlaot *1880s: the Deir

Abu Tor Abu Tor, also Abu Thor or ath-Thori, ( ar, أبو طور or الثوري, he, אבו תור; lit. Arabic meaning "Father of the Bull"; In Hebrew also called גבעת חנניה (Giv'at Hanania), lit. "Hananiah's hill") is a mixed Jewish and Arab ...

mixed Arab neighbourhood *1880s: the Catholic "French Colony": Saint-Louis Hospital (1881-1883), Notre Dame de France Hospice (1888-1904) *1882: the American-Swedish Colony, Christian Protestant *1882: the Mazkeret Moshe Jewish neighbourhood, now part of Nachlaot *1882: the Ohel Moshe Jewish neighbourhood, now part of Nachlaot

Gallery

File:Mishkenot Sha'ananim 1.jpg,

guesthouse, restored historical building File:PikiWiki Israel 3988 stairs street jerusalem.jpg,

, Street of the Stairs, Nahalat Ahim

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Expansion of Jerusalem in the 19th-century Jews and Judaism in Ottoman Palestine 19th century in Jerusalem 19th century in Ottoman Syria