Historic Jaffa sea wall buried for safety's sake - Haaretz

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Thu., February 14, 2008 Adar1 8, 5768

Israel Time: 02:08 (EST+7)

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Historic Jaffa sea wall buried for safety's sake

By Yigal Hai

Jaffa Port officials yesterday began covering a historic sea wall and adjoining piers unearthed in an archaeological dig a few weeks ago, despite public demand to leave them exposed.

The port director said yesterday that the wall would be covered only temporarily, so that people would not fall into pits exposed during the dig.

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The sea wall, which once was 4.5 meters tall, protected Jaffa residents during the Ottoman Era. After 500 meters of the wall were exposed in an Israel Antiquities Authority dig, port preservationists, including the Israeli Architects Association and architect Yitzhak Lipowitzky Lir, requested that the wall be left on public display.

The Tel Aviv-Jaffa Municpality's original plan had called for the wall to be covered over so a modern promenade could be constructed there, but preservation enthusiasts maintained that the findings could be left exposed alongside a promenade.

"Thousands of spectators filled the port on recent weekends and took pictures of the handsome sandstone wall and the stairs that once led from the wall to the sea," said Lir, who has studied the history of the port.

Last week, the Antiquities Authority gave the port administration permission "to cover the archaeological dig" while "preserving and displaying archaeological relics in a respectable manner."

Port director Ron Wolf said that the planning team is figuring out how to leave part of the wall exposed.

"I applaud the joint municipal and Antiquities Authority decision to preserve the sea wall and their promise to put the relics on public display," Lir said yesterday.

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