Page 14 - Discover Israel Magazine - 2015 Edition
P. 14
History Meets Luxury
at the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem
I n 1929, Jerusalem welcomed its
irst luxury hotel. Located just a few
hundred meters from the Old City’s
Jafa Gate, it was an architectural
masterpiece, replete with impressive arched
windows and elaborate stove carvings. Yet
the building functioned as a hotel for less
than a decade and closed its doors in 1935.
Eighty-ive years after its original
inauguration, the Palace Hotel is being
reborn in luxurious grandeur as the Waldorf
Astoria Jerusalem. Strictly adhering to the
Jerusalem Municipality’s standards for
preservation of historic sites, the Palace
Hotel façade has been meticulously restored
and sustained.
The irst stones for the Palace Hotel were
laid in the 1920s, at a time when the majority
of Jerusalem was still contained within the
Old City walls. Only several neighborhoods
had been established outside of the
walls, including Mishkenot Sha’ananim,
Bayit Vegan, Beit Hakerem, Talpiyot and
Rehaviyah. The Palace Hotel was initiated
by the Supreme Muslim Council and was
intended to be their largest building project
to-date. The contract for the hotel was
signed between the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj
Amin al-Husseini, and three contractors: an
Arab contractor named Sami Awad, and
Baruch Katinka and Tuvia Dunia, two Jewish
contractors. It was designed by Turkish
architect Nahas Bey.
Construction began in 1928 and a team of
ive hundred workers completed work in just
11 months. The hotel was impressive and
ornate, with a distinctive curved façade and
arched windows. Four elegant stories high,
it had central heating and three elevators,
features that were relatively unheard of in
Jerusalem at the time. Forty-ive of its 145
rooms had private bathrooms, another luxury
of that period. It’s architectural and interior
design was truly a masterpiece. With stylistic
inluences ranging from Greco-Roman and
Gothic to Renaissance and Mamluk, there
were broad arches in the external facade
and the upper stories featured horseshoe-
shaped windows and stylized balconies.
The impressive façade of the Waldorf Astoria
Jerusalem. Inset: The original Palace Hotel built in the
1920s. Photos: Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem
at the Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem
I n 1929, Jerusalem welcomed its
irst luxury hotel. Located just a few
hundred meters from the Old City’s
Jafa Gate, it was an architectural
masterpiece, replete with impressive arched
windows and elaborate stove carvings. Yet
the building functioned as a hotel for less
than a decade and closed its doors in 1935.
Eighty-ive years after its original
inauguration, the Palace Hotel is being
reborn in luxurious grandeur as the Waldorf
Astoria Jerusalem. Strictly adhering to the
Jerusalem Municipality’s standards for
preservation of historic sites, the Palace
Hotel façade has been meticulously restored
and sustained.
The irst stones for the Palace Hotel were
laid in the 1920s, at a time when the majority
of Jerusalem was still contained within the
Old City walls. Only several neighborhoods
had been established outside of the
walls, including Mishkenot Sha’ananim,
Bayit Vegan, Beit Hakerem, Talpiyot and
Rehaviyah. The Palace Hotel was initiated
by the Supreme Muslim Council and was
intended to be their largest building project
to-date. The contract for the hotel was
signed between the Mufti of Jerusalem, Haj
Amin al-Husseini, and three contractors: an
Arab contractor named Sami Awad, and
Baruch Katinka and Tuvia Dunia, two Jewish
contractors. It was designed by Turkish
architect Nahas Bey.
Construction began in 1928 and a team of
ive hundred workers completed work in just
11 months. The hotel was impressive and
ornate, with a distinctive curved façade and
arched windows. Four elegant stories high,
it had central heating and three elevators,
features that were relatively unheard of in
Jerusalem at the time. Forty-ive of its 145
rooms had private bathrooms, another luxury
of that period. It’s architectural and interior
design was truly a masterpiece. With stylistic
inluences ranging from Greco-Roman and
Gothic to Renaissance and Mamluk, there
were broad arches in the external facade
and the upper stories featured horseshoe-
shaped windows and stylized balconies.
The impressive façade of the Waldorf Astoria
Jerusalem. Inset: The original Palace Hotel built in the
1920s. Photos: Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem
