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In the second half of the nineteenth century Jerusalem spread out beyond the walls of the Old City. Jaffa Road, which would become the city's main thoroughfare for passengers and goods, with shops and Jewish residential neighborhoods on both sides, developed along the main route leading from Jerusalem to Jaffa and its port. A street with a completely different character came into being to the north of Jaffa Road: Ha-nevi'im Street (the Street of the Prophets). Ha-nevi'im Street, extending from Ha-herut Square (Davidka Square) on the west to Damascus Gate on the east, was called the "street of the consuls" by the inhabitants of the city, because of the foreign consulates located on it: it was also known as the "street of the hospitals," because of the hospitals flanking it. It was given its present name only at the beginning of the British Mandate by the Governor of Jerusalem, Ronald Storrs, possibly due to its proximity to the Mamluk tomb of Nabi Okasha, which is located in the nearby Zikhron Moshe quarter; a local tradition identifies this as the burial site of the prophets of the three monotheistic faiths. Many people wanted to live on this street, either for a short time or permanently. Personages such as the researcher of Jerusalem Conrad Schick, the English painter Holman Hunt, and the poetess Rahel lived and created here, while others, such as the Empress Zaudito and Baron Edmond de Rothschild, also left their mark on the street. The spirit of them all hover over the houses and courtyards of the neighborhood, which harbor their memories behind the sturdy stone walls. In the late 1980s it was proposed that Ha'nevi'im Street be widened. This project called for the destruction of the historic courtyards and the building of a superhighway thirty-two meters wide. One of the plans proposed laying this highway within the courtyards and leaving their walls untouched in order to lessen the damage to the character of the narrow and romantic street. The plans aroused stiff opposition and led to a stubborn battle by lovers of Jerusalem, which is still being waged today (1999). |
