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100 Facts About Tel Aviv
100 Facts About Tel Aviv
100 Facts About Tel Aviv
37. The Tel Aviv Rowing Club was established in 1935 and is the largest rowing club in Israel.
38. Tel Aviv has an annual half-marathon, run in 2008 by 10,000 athletes from around the
world.
39. Tel Aviv is governed by a 31-member city council elected for a four-year term in direct
proportional elections.
40. The Tel Aviv City Hall is located at Rabin Square.
41. Ron Huldai is currently mayor of Tel Aviv, and has been in office since 1998.
42. Gymnasia (Hebrew High School) Herzliya is one of Israel’s most historic schools. Founded
in 1905, it has many notable alumni including Moshe Sharett (Israel’s second Prime
Minister).
43. Tel Aviv's major institution for higher education is Tel Aviv University. Founded in 1953,
the university is now the largest in Israel, with nine faculties, 106 departments, and 90
research institutes. The University is known internationally for its physics, computer
science, chemistry, and linguistics departments.
44. The three largest newspapers in Israel (Yedioth Aharonoth, Maariv, and Haaretz) are all
headquartered in Tel Aviv.
45. Three major Israeli television networks, Keshet, Reshet, and Channel 10, are based in the
city.
46. Tel Aviv is twinned with 27 cities around the world, including, New York City, Milan, and
Gaza City.
47. Azrieli Center is a complex of three skyscrapers—one circular, one square, and one
triangular—in Tel Aviv. Among other things, it includes a large shopping mall, offices, and
a hotel.
48. Tel Aviv has a Mediterranean climate with hot, humid summers, pleasant springs and
autumns, and typically cool, wet winters.
49. Neve Tzedek was established in 1887, 22 years before the 1909 founding of the City of Tel
Aviv, by a group of Jewish families seeking a more peaceful life outside of overpopulated
Jaffa.
50. The early architecture of Tel Aviv consisted largely of Eastern European-style single-story
houses with red-tiled roofs.
51. A few years ago, Tel Aviv’s municipality transformed a derelict power station into a garden
and pedestrian walkway. Today the Gan HaHashmal (Electric Garden) area is one of the
city’s trendiest areas, where you can find the latest in fashion from local designers.
52. The influx of Jewish immigrants from Europe in the years 1924-1939 boosted Tel Aviv as a
major city, and gave the city its yuppie and outgoing character, which it retains to this day.
53. The "Yemenite Vineyard" quarter of Tel Aviv is named the after its founders and first
inhabitants, Yemenite Jews who settled in the area.
54. The Carmel Market is Tel Aviv's largest food and vegetable market.
55. Tel Aviv presents a lively combination of entertainment venues, shopping malls, exotic
markets, nonstop active nightlife, gorgeous golden beaches and wonderful restaurants of all
kinds.
56. April 2009 will mark the 100th anniversary of the city of Tel Aviv. The city was originally
named Ahuzat Bait and was founded by 60 families in 1909 as a Jewish neighborhood near
Jaffa.
57. Tel Aviv was the principal target of Iraqi missiles during the Persian Gulf War (1991).
58. Habima National Theatre, located in Tel Aviv, is Israel's national theatre and one of the first
Hebrew language theatres.
59. Shenkin (Sheinkin) St. has been considered a local attraction for over 20 years, and one of
the most popular Tel Aviv tourist attractions.
60. The port of Old Jaffa has a 5000-year history and is mentioned in the Bible.
61. Tel Aviv has an extremely active club scene that rivals the best in Europe.
62. Tel Aviv fuses contemporary Western and Middle Eastern sensibilities in its character.
63. Tel Aviv has 44 hotels, with a total of 5,200 rooms.
64. Tel Aviv is located 60 kilometers north-west of Jerusalem.
65. David Ben Gurion was Israel's first Prime Minister and one of the most important people in
politics for many years after. The little Tel Aviv house where he lived with his wife Paula (on
the street bearing his name) offers an insight into the humble life he led.
66. Tel Aviv’s population grew from only 3,600 in 1914 to 120,000 in 1936. The main reason for
the growth in population was the great mass of Jewish immigrants fleeing from Europe
between the years 1924-1939, before the beginning of WWII. By the time Israel declared
independence on May 14, 1948, the population of Tel Aviv had risen to more than 200,000.
67. Since 1958 Habima has been officially considered the national theater of Israel.
68. Kikar Hamedina (the State’s square) is the most posh and expensive shopping area in Tel
Aviv. The top names, the top quality and over the top price tags.
69. The Jewish Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv is one of the biggest museums in the world
specialising in the history of the Jewish People.
70. Located at the Yemenite Quarter, one of the city's first neighborhoods, Nachalat Binyamin
Pedestrian Mall is a colorful open-air bazaar of unique handicrafts, street performances,
pantomime and musicians.
71. Basel Square, located in the heart of northern Tel Aviv, is the hip place to sit down for a
drink of coffee and croissant in the morning or afternoon.
72. Shalom Meir Tower was Israel’s first skyscraper, completed in 1965. At the time it rivaled
the tallest buildings in Europe in height, and was the tallest in the Middle East, and was
Israel’s tallest building until 1999.
73. Along with its thriving classical music and opera offerings, Tel Aviv can also claim one of the
most innovative pop music scenes in the Europe/Middle Eastern region. From world music
practitioners like Idan Raichal, to hip hop innovators like Hadag Nachash, to national
"classic" rockers such as Shalom Hanoch and Yehudah Poliker, to "indie" masters like Ivry
Lider or Hayehudim (The Jews), Tel Aviv pulses with an endless array of contemporary
music acts and concerts.
74. Unlike New York or London, however, thank to Tel Aviv's compact size - a mere 33 square
miles - all of the city's best bets are within easy reach.
75. Chen Boulevard is named after Chaim Nachman. Bialik, Israel’s poet laureate. The initial
letters of his first two names from the Hebrew acronym Chen, which also means charm.
76. Carlebach St. is named after Azriel Carlebach, the founding editor of Maariv newspaper.
The Maariv building still stands in its original location.
77. The distance between Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem is about 70 km (about 43 miles). It takes
about 30-45 minutes by car.
78. Chich Beach in Tel Aviv is named after Mayor Shlomo Lahat known as Chich.
79. The Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center is the main hospital serving Tel Aviv, Israel, and its
metropolitan area. It is the third-largest hospital complex in the country.
80. During the 2006 local parliament elections, held on March 28th, the City Hall building’s
main facade was turned into the country's largest screen, showing the elections edition of the
Israeli Channel 10 news.
81. The City Hall's plaza, Rabin Square, is the largest plaza in Tel Aviv and the city's main
square for large rallies, demonstrations and open-fairs.
82. On October 15th 2004, as part of the city's 95th anniversary, the main facade of the building
was turned into a giant, 3,200-square meter presentation wall for the Tel Aviv Profile
exhibition, displaying portraits of 240 VIPs from the city's history, designed by 200 local
artists. The presentation was removed in late December.
83. Tel Aviv is Israel’s transportation hub, and the city’s Central Bus Station is the largest of its
kind in the world.
84. It is amusing today to think that Tel Aviv's founders once banned commercial enterprise in
the city. That ban, of course, did not last long; after the First World War (during which the
settlers of Tel Aviv were dispersed), the town took enormous commercial strides. In 1921 it
became a separate township and the first modern Jewish city in the world. By 1924 Tel Aviv
had a respectable population of 35,000, which was to grow to over 200,000 by 1948.
85. Tel Aviv is home to buildings by many famous architects, including Philippe Starck, I.M.
Pei, and Richard Meier.
86. The city of Tel Aviv has 24 municipal libraries, holding nearly 1 million books and which
service about 30,000 readers per month.
87. You can travel around the city by bicycle as well on 45 kilometers of paths.
88. While the Port of Tel Aviv no longer serves commercial ships, it has become a top spot for
culture, fine dining, and some of the city’s top nightclubs.
89. Dizengoff Center was Israel’s first shopping mall, built in the 1970s. Though other malls
have surpassed it in size and elegance, Dizengoff hosts an international food fair on Fridays.
90. Ali Karavan (Abu Hassan’s), located in Old Jaffa, is considered by many to have the best
hummus in Israel.
91. In the 1947 Partition Plan, Tel Aviv was to be part of Israel, while Jaffa was slated to be part
of an Arab country. After skirmishes between the two cities, Etzel forces took over Jaffa two
days before Independence was declared.
92. The Yarkon River in the middle of Tel Aviv is the largest river flowing into the
Mediterranean Sea, and its banks have been settled since ancient times.
93. During World War II, Tel Aviv was bombed twice—on 9 September 1940 by the Italian Air
Force and on 12 June 1941 by Vichy France.
94. The first international Maccabia Games were held in Tel Aviv in 1932. Though the Games
are still held every four years, they are now held just outside the city, in Ramat Gan.
95. Hayarkon Park is Tel Aviv's green sanctuary in the midst of the big city. The park attracts
families, youngsters, joggers and almost anyone who feels like a breath of fresh air.
96. Tel Aviv actually began as a suburb of Jaffa, the adjoining city with which it melded in 1950.
Jaffa (meaning "beautiful") is an ancient and venerable town which is mentioned in both the
Old and New Testaments.
97. The Israel Philharmonic Orchestra appointed Mehta its Music Advisor in 1969, Music
Director in 1977, and made him its Music Director for Life in 1981.
98. The Batsheva Dance Company is an honored dance company based in Tel Aviv, Israel. It
was founded by Martha Graham and Baroness Batsheva De Rothschild, after whom it was
named, in 1964.
99. Tel Aviv has been ranked as one of the world's top 50 centers of commerce by the new
MasterCard Worldwide Center of Commerce research index of leading cities that influence
the global economy and drive global commerce.
100. Tel Aviv's most significant moment in modern history came when David Ben-Gurion
proclaimed the state of Israel on 14 May 1948, in the home of mayor Meir Dizengoff.