This time, the Mount Zion Hotel, in a photo from the beginning of the twentieth century.
The hotel is located above the Old City and today’s Cinematech building. It overlooks the Old City walls, the Sultan’s Pool and the Valley of Hinnom, near the Mishkanim Shananim, and faces today’s Begin Center.
The photo shows the beginning of today’s Derech Hebron Street, without traffic jams, taxis, buses, and public transportation means crowded by workers from the east side of the city.
Those were the days …
The building was originally built in 1882 by members of the British Order as a hospital for eye diseases under the patronage of Queen Victoria of England and her son, Edward VII, Prince of Wales, who, after many efforts, managed to convince the Turkish ambassador in London to approve the project.
The poverty, poor hygiene, and overcrowding that characterized Jerusalem at the end of the 19th century led, among other things, to eye diseases. After the hospital opened, the word spread, and patients came from everywhere — the Old City, Jaffa and Nablus, Tiberias, Damascus, and Petra (Jordan).
According to historical documents, in 1882, about 80 patients were treated there per day. The hospital became very popular for patients with eye problems. This led to a cross-faith consensus, which was supported by the Turkish governor of Jerusalem, the Greek and the Armenian Patriarch, and the rabbi of Jerusalem. By the end of 1888, 58,000 patients were treated there per year and about 900 surgeries were performed.
In Jerusalem, there is no idleness. During the First World War, the hospital was closed and became the ammunition depot of the Turkish army.
After the British occupied Jerusalem, the Turks were expelled and the former hospital became the headquarters of the London division’s commander.
At the end of 1919, the building was evacuated. The hospital resumed its activity. Then, due to the large number of patients, a new wing was built opposite the hospital. That is today’s product signal house, which is connected by a subway tunnel.
The hospital operated until 1948 when it became a strategic point for the Defense Forces. A cable tram was installed there and it went over the Ben Hinnom Valley to Mount Zion, transporting weapons, equipment, and supplies.
After the war, the Nativ Meir Yeshiva was founded in the building, and after a few years, it moved to the Beit Vegan neighborhood.
In 1964, the Israel Lands Administration purchased the building. It sold it to a private developer in 1972.
The developer planned to demolish it. After destroying the southern and central wings, due to the efforts of building preservation and environmental organizations, the destruction stopped and the building was saved. Then, it was restored and turned into a hotel in 1986.
In December 2019, the Azrieli Group purchased the hotel and the land for NIS 265 million from the Eliyahu and Shechter family, who owned it.
Today, the entire complex sees a massive construction boom. The old buildings that witnessed crucial historical events will be preserved and renovated and will become part of a hotel complex.
This is our Jerusalem — A British hospital established during Turkish rule, which served patients of all religions, from Damascus to Jordan and Gaza before it was converted into Turkish headquarters, then turned into British headquarters, a defense point in the War of Liberation, a yeshiva, then ended up in the hands of a greedy entrepreneur whose ambitious project was stopped in time by good people aiming to achieve historical and architectural justice, and is finally set to become a hotel, which will be renovated, preserved and enlarged.
This city’s buildings and stones saw changing regimes, the Zionist revival, and a lot of blood and tears like a time machine going back 150 years
Shabbat of peace far and near Jerusalem
Photographer – unknown
