On the left, you can see the Generali building with the famous lion on its roof, on the right, Shlomzion Street, and on the horizon, Givat Armon Hantziv with the UN headquarters, today’s Shruber Promenade.
The Generali building was built by the homonymous Italian insurance company, named after it, and inaugurated in 1935.
The building was designed by the Italian architect Marcello Piacenti in the neoclassical style. The building’s triangular shape was adapted according to the intersection of the Jaffa and Shlomzion Malka streets.
Later, the building was used by the British army as a storage facility, until it was captured by Haetzel fighters during the War of Independence.
The lion on the roof of the building is the symbol of the patron of the city of Venice and the symbol of Venice itself, and not, as it is commonly believed, the symbol of Jerusalem. The Roman numerals 1831 written under the lion, refer to the founding year of the Generali company.
Urban Jerusalem legends say that at night, when everyone is asleep, the lion descends, walks around the city, and looks for a place to defecate … standing still for a whole day can be tiring even for a magnificent lion.
Later, Jaffa Street became the axis of the light rail. Shlomzion Hamalka Street became a one-way street and at the end of it, there was a pedestrian street bordering the Mamilla Mall.
This picture is probably the last chance to see the street without traffic and parking spaces.
This is Jerusalem – new versus old, rich history versus local traffic congestion, and a lion suffering from insomnia and an irritable bladder.
Shabbat shallom to the near and far
