Showing posts with label Greek Colony. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Greek Colony. Show all posts

Monday, December 19, 2011

Greek Colony -- some history

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The sign for the Greek Colony in Hebrew, Arabic, and transliterated Hebrew.
But not in Greek.

In the previous post we started talking about Jerusalem's Greek Colony.
And once I showed you one of the neighborhood's finest buildings.
But today's pictures show a more typical house.

The writing above the lintel says 1937.
Who can translate the Greek? Help!

UPDATE: Martus and Robert Geiss have come to the rescue. They say it means
Greek Friends-of-the-Poor
Brotherhood of Jerusalem
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In the 1800s Christians ( Arab Christians as well as foreigners who came from Germany, Austria, Russia, Italy, England, etc. ) played a major role as initiators of modern construction in Jerusalem, both inside and outside the Old City.

I'll quote from Ruth Kark's excellent book, Jerusalem Neighborhoods, Planning and By-Laws (1855-1930):

"The Christian initiatives in the field of construction stemmed from a mixture of religious and philanthropic motivations on the one hand, and business considerations on the other hand. Both types of enterprise drew mostly upon capital from abroad.
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By contrast [to the Catholics, Russian Orthodox, and Protestants], during the nineteenth century the Greek Orthodox channeled most of their entrepreneurial efforts into acquiring agricultural land (in Nikoforiya), and into economic and commercial activity.
Thus they built hotels . . ., shops . . ., and markets . . . .

Near the turn of the century a number of Greek Orthodox residential neighborhoods began to develop outside the [Old City] walls, especially in the southern part of the city:
the Greek Colony, Katamon, and Abu Tor."

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This little tour joins other tours around the globe at Our World Tuesday.
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Sunday, December 18, 2011

A eucalyptus in the Greek Colony

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Wouldn't you say the poor tree is too near the street?

It is a tall old eucalyptus from the early days of Jerusalem's Greek Colony.

The neighborhood was planned about a century ago.
The land was purchased by wealthy lay members of the Greek Orthodox community.
By 1928 the community center and the 45 planned houses were completed.

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Friday, November 25, 2011

Mercaz Shalem

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While strolling in Jerusalem's Greek Colony I found a very reflective door for Weekend Reflections.

It is the front door of the Shalem Center think tank.

The back of the historic building bears its Hebrew name, Beit Nativ.
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I learn here that next year it will house the new Shalem College.
In March 2009, Shalem submitted an application to Israel's Council for Higher Education to open Israel's first liberal arts college. Shalem College will offer the first Israeli B.A. modeled on the American liberal arts degree.
Top Israeli and overseas applicants will pursue a unique core curriculum in which the classics of Western thought are studied alongside the Bible and other Jewish sources. The College is currently scheduled to open with majors in Philosophy, Political Theory and Religion (PPR) and in Middle East and Islamic Studies.
Additional majors will be added as resources become available.
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This post will be for Monday Doorways.
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