The Jerusalem Model

My Dad and I, along with a rather reluctant youngest son who declared upfront that our plans were boring, recently enjoyed a day out in Jerusalem. I had heard about the model of modern Jerusalem, which is hosted at Jerusalem's City Hall, and knew that it was something that both my Dad and I would enjoy seeing.
The model can be found in Building 1 of the City Hall. We took the lift down to floor 0 and buzzed to get into the room where the model is located. We were greeting by Nataly Ostrovsky, the construction engineer today responsible for the project, who I had spoken to on the phone prior to our visit. Nataly was happy to show us around and point out the different areas of the city. The model is so realistic that it was easy to locate a particular street or even a specific building. We were amazed by what we saw.

Initially created with basic materials such as cardboard, wood, paint and glue (today's additions are laser cut from Plexiglas), we found a huge model which allowed us a fantastic bird’s eye view of Jerusalem. The large 1:500 scaled model represents approximately 6 square kilometres of space, 15% of the city, from the city centre, across downtown Jerusalem, through Meah Shearim, Rehavia and other neighbourhoods in west Jerusalem, through the Old City and into parts of east Jerusalem. It is worked on on a regular basis and will apparently soon include the rest of the Old City, the Hebrew University campus at Givat Ram, the Valley of the Cross and two major museums - The Israel Museum and the Bible Lands Museum.

The model was originally built by American-born Richard Harvey with the help of students of architecture at the Technion in Haifa. He was hired to design and build it in 1978, during a time of intense development in Jerusalem. In 1985 the project was moved to Jerusalem. Now retired, Harvey continued to be involved in construction and additions through 2003.
Architects and city developers with specific projects in mind can try out their ideas on the model. The model provides visual feedback that would normally take weeks or months of abstract discussion. It is modular in construction, each of its current 48 units is on wheels and can be moved, taken apart, and thus continually updated. Visitors include both local and international planners and designers, and during the International Mayors' Conference, which meets each year in Jerusalem, there is always one session to view and discuss the model and its application to the participants' own local realities. The model also functions as an educational tool. Creative workshops for schoolchildren are held there to teach students about issues in town planning, from traffic gridlock to aesthetics.
Dad and I do not fit in to any of these categories but still found the model of great interest. Even the youngest son was quite taken with it, though I doubt he'd admit it!

After a yummy lunch of hummus and chopped Israeli salad at a nearby eatery, our next stop was the Cable Car Museum on Mount Zion. The museum is located in the northern wing of the Mount Zion Hotel, a boutique hotel well known for its fabulous views of the Old City and the Hinnom Valley. It started out as an eye hospital in the 1880's, when the Duke of Kent, who was a member of the British Order of the Knights of Saint John of Jerusalem, decided together with his colleagues to set up a hospital to serve Muslims, Jews, and Christians from all over the Middle East.

During the First World War, the Turks took over the building, turned it into an arms warehouse and destroyed parts of it. This damage, coupled with the results of an earthquake in the 1920's, made repairs necessary. The British were the ones who acknowledged the building's special location and decided to renovate it in the 1930's. The compound served as a hospital until 1948.

During Israel's War of Independence there was a problem of accessibility between the western part of the city and Mount Zion. At first the connection was maintained through a tunnel crossing the Hinnom Valley. The tunnel made it possible to transfer supplies to the mountain and evacuate the injured, although in a limited manner. However, it was very narrow and an alternative method was needed to evacuate the wounded and bring supplies to the soldiers on Mount Zion. The solution was formulated by engineer Uriel Hefetz in December 1948. A 200-metre (656-foot) steel cable was stretched over the valley every night - from the hospital to a post on Mount Zion - and medicine and arms were ferried by means of a cable car from Jewish-controlled west Jerusalem to fighters battling Jordanian troops up on Mount Zion. The wounded were brought from Mount Zion over to the hospital. During the day the cable was lowered to the ground so as not to be seen by the enemy.

The cable reached a height of about 50 metres (164 feet) above the valley, and the cable car could carry a maximal weight of about half a tonne. Three soldiers on each side were responsible for operating it, and the ride lasted about two minutes in each direction. While it was only in use for half a year the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) maintained it in working order from 1948 until 1967, should the need for it ever arise. The cable car was eventually retired, but kept secret by the IDF until 1972.
In the Cable Car Museum you can see the authentic cable car and its mechanism (although the cable has been restored) and look at photographs of officers and soldiers who shared the secret, including the Israeli military leader and politician Moshe Dayan. Uriel Hefetz was awarded the Israel Security Prize and received a number of the IDF’s highest commendations for his participation in the Yom Kippur War and the terrorist siege at Ma'alot in May 1974. In recent years Jerusalem commemorated his work with a street called Netiv Harakevel ("the car cable route").

Our final stop of the day was at the beautiful 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza located on a hill in Arazim Valley (arazim means cedars), just north of the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. The plaza, built on 5 acres of hillside, remembers and honours the victims of the September 11 attacks. The cenotaph measures 30 feet and is made of granite, bronze and aluminium. It takes the form of an American flag, waving and transforming into a flame at the tip, while the folded part of the flag is reminiscent of the collapse of the towers in a cloud of dust. A piece of melted metal from the ruins of the Twin Towers forms part of the base on which the cenotaph rests. It is inscribed with these words in English and Hebrew: "This metal piece, like the entire monument, is a manifestation of the special relationship between New York and Jerusalem."
The names of every single victim of 9/11, including five Israeli citizens, are embedded on metal plates and placed on a circular wall around the plaza. This cenotaph was the first cenotaph outside of the United States which lists the names of the nearly 3,000 victims of the 9/11 attacks. The cenotaph is strategically located within view of Jerusalem's main cemetery, Har HaMenuchot.

The cenotaph was designed by award-winning artist Eliezer Weishoff, who is also well known for his artistic posters, stamps, medals, coins and banknotes. It was commissioned by the Jewish National Fund (JNF/KKL) and dedicated in November 2009.
The 9/11 Living Memorial Plaza is a circular plaza surrounding the bronze sculpture. The space is large enough to comfortably hold 300 people and was designed to echo the shape of The Pentagon. It also has an indentation in the floor of the plaza that represents the rut created in the land where one of the planes crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Each year on the anniversary of 9/11, a ceremony is held there with diplomats, dignitaries and local politicians remembering the terrorist attacks. During the year the handicapped-accessible site is open to tourists and locals. Israeli school children often visit on school trips to learn more about the terrorist tragedy that took place on American soil.

* This post has been shared on image-in-ing, Travel Tuesday, Wordless Wednesday, Wednesday Around the World, Wednesday Waters, Share Your Cup Thursday, Life Thru the Lens, Little Things Thursday and Inspired Sunday.