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Visiting Tel Aviv, the economic and financial capital of Israel, is like stepping into a Twilight Zone: whether or not you feel that you have embarked on a “journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of the imagination”, as the intro of the legendary TV series so famously had it, may depend on the nature of your own personal journey.

But a walk through the city’s streets will give anybody the feeling of “travelling through another dimension, a dimension not only of sight and space but of time.”

This is because Tel Aviv is not only a spatial concept: its has also been made from different layers of time, combining echoes of antiquity with bold visions of the future.

"Tel Aviv Through Space and Time"

Tel Aviv’s layers of time are, as a rule, neatly separated. Much of the modern city’s street life may look uncontrollably buoyant and unruly, almost too energetic for its own good (think Italy on amphetamines), but the urban fabric of Tel Aviv itself appears to have developed in a fairly orderly fashion.

Neighbouring houses and streets are generally similar in character, and the individual quarters have managed to preserve the general feel of their original period styles.

You will, of course, always be able to find buildings from different periods – such as pre-WWI residential homes and modernist skyscrapers –  rubbing shoulders or walls with one another. Mostly, however, they just share the same skyline.

"Tel Aviv Through Space and Time"

The core of modern Tel Aviv is what is today known as the “White City” (recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage Site), the area around Dizengoff Square and Rothschild Boulevard, which was established as a Zionist project in 1909.

As more and more Jews came to Palestine in the 1920s and 1930s, Tel Aviv grew and eventually swallowed up the older settlements in its vicinity.

We will start our walk in the oldest of those, taking bus line no 10 to Jaffa, the “Yafo” in the modern municipality’s official name of “Tel Aviv-Yafo”.

As much as Tel Aviv’s White City is young by New World standards – not a single building there predates the year 1909 – Jaffa is old even when measured by the standards of the steeped-in-history Mediterranean.

Locals believe that Jaffa carries the name of Japhet, the son of Noah, who is said to have founded the first settlement here, and in Greek mythology, the Jaffa rock was the place on which Andromeda was left to be devoured by a sea monster before she was rescued by Perseus.

"Tel Aviv Through Space and Time"

Jaffa is full of echoes from antiquity …

"Tel Aviv Through Space and Time"

… but even older than Rome or Athens themselves: it is first mentioned in Egyptian document from the year 1440 BCE.

Modern Jaffa, meanwhile, is distinctly Arab in look …

… and in feel.

"Tel Aviv Through Space and Time"

Take our walk through Tel Aviv through space and time

We recommend you descend from the bus as soon as you spot the Clock Tower (built in 1900 by a German-trained Jewish architect when the town was under Ottoman rule) …

… which pretty much marks the centre of the modern town. Proceed to the left side of the high street (David Raziel Street) and then make your way through one the narrow alleyways to the Flea Market, Jaffa’s most colourful bit.

"Tel Aviv Through Space and Time"

On your way, do not forget to take a peek at the murals.

"Tel Aviv Through Space and Time"

Stroll through the scenic area around Jaffa Rock with the Al-Bahr Mosque and the Catholic St Peter’s Church, and explore the side streets of downtown Yefet Street to take in some local atmosphere.

"Tel Aviv Through Space and Time"

After that, leave Jaffa by the beach road and turn right into HaMered Street for the Neve Tzedek quarter. It was here where, in a few blocks on either side of Shabazi Street, a few dozen Mizrahi families from Jaffa established the first exclusively Jewish settlement on the Palestinian coast.

About 70 of the original sandstone buildings still exist in the “Oasis of Justice” (which is what Neve Tzedek means), alongside many more that were added later while still reflecting the ancient style.

"Tel Aviv Through Space and Time"

In the 1920s, the first settlers from Europe arrived in Neve Tzedek. These immigrants may have been socially a cut below the residents of the newly established Tel Aviv to the north, but it is clear that Neve Tzedek, too, became subject to an influx of new ideas.

Over the years, the quarter had its ups and down. Not so long ago, it was apparently little more than a slum district, but today, Neve Tzedek is très chic

… and can, according to Wikipedia, count the world’s two most famous Israeli citizens among its residents: Roman Abramovich and Gal Gadot.

Throughout its chequered history of hardship and glamour, however, the quarter has always managed to preserve a somewhat village-y feel, making sure that some clear blue sky remained between itself and its neighbouring districts while keeping the excesses of modern times well at bay.

"Tel Aviv Through Space and Time"

Neve Tzedek is also the home of Tel Aviv’s oldest pieces of transport infrastructure: the tracks of the Ottoman Jaffa-to-Jerusalem railway line from 1892.

The only remaining not-entirely-concreted-over section of this line has been recently converted into a lively public space, the HaMesila Park (“Train Track Park”).

The bridge across the old tracks was built by the Ottoman authorities to allow the founding father of Neve Tzedek, the successful businessman Aharon Shlush, to travel to his company’s downtown office in comfort and convenience – the Algerian-born Shlush (or Celouche) was one of the richest and most influential men in Ottoman Palestine.

In the north of Neve Tzedek, at the end of Pines Street, turn right in the direction of Allenby Street, one of the main boulevards of the modern city.

It is there where we will pick up the story of Tel Aviv through space and time next week for Part 2

"Tel Aviv Through Space and Time"

We hope, with this walk, to have shown you Tel Aviv through space and time!

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