Last update - 00:00 15/01/2008
Archaeological discoveries may prove barrier to Jaffa port rejuvenation
By Yigal Hai
The findings of a salvage dig have forced the Tel Aviv municipality to reconsider its plans to renovate Jaffa Port. Several weeks ago, archaeologists conducting the salvage dig unearthed relics dating to the Ottoman era. The findings included some 500 meters of the port's sea wall and remnants of the Ottoman customs building.
The city's original plan to turn the port into a center for entertainment, culture, commerce and hotels had involved paving over the entire area where the sea wall was found. But in response to public pressure, the municipality announced Monday that it is reconsidering this idea.
Preservation enthusiasts argue that the sea wall should be preserved, with the planned promenade running alongside it. "The Ottoman-era findings are extremely high quality, beautiful and intact," argued architect Yitzhak Lipowitzky Lir, who has been researching the history of Jaffa Port. "It is important to preserve them and display them to the public."
Though Jaffa is one of the world's oldest ports, accurate records of it date back only to the early 19th century, when it was rebuilt by the Ottomans after being destroyed by Napoleon's army in 1799. From 1800 until 1870, Jaffa was a fortified city, surrounded by walls and towers. But starting in 1870, due to an improved security situation, the walls were gradually torn down. Only the lower half of the sea wall, 2.5 meters high, was left standing.
The sea wall lasted until the 1930s, when the British mandatory authorities decided to expand and renovate the port. They covered over the wall and its attached piers, destroyed the Ottoman customs house and built a new customs house atop the ruins.
The Israeli Architects Association's professional committee also argues that the findings of the Jaffa dig should be left on view. Covering them up, it said in a statement issued about two months ago, would be "a critical mistake and a wasted opportunity."
Committee chairman Yohanan Golani noted that a few years ago, UNESCO considered declaring Jaffa a world cultural heritage site, but rejected the idea because there were no authentic relics of the city's past. Now that such relics have been discovered, he said, they should not be wasted. "You could cover them with clear glass, so that it would be possible to walk over them, but they must not be covered up," he said.
A spokesman for the Tel Aviv municipality responded: "The location of the wall discovered during the dig creates a dilemma from the operational, engineering and preservation standpoints.
"The city is currently examining these issues with the goal of finding a solution that strikes the best balance among all these needs, including a desire to give expression to the route of the Ottoman wall. When this process is finished, the results will be presented, inter alia, to the Architects Association."
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