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

References

External links

* Squares in Israel Geography of Haifa Tourist attractions in Haifa Arab Israeli culture in Haifa {{Israel-geo-stub

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links