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Jews, Christians, and Moslems; Germans, Russians, Britons, Frenchmen, Italians, Armenians, Turks, Greeks, Ethiopians, and others have all made their mark, enriching Jerusalem over the centuries with varied architectural styles.

In preserving any city, say planners, the collective memory of its inhabitants is also preserved, together with their ties to its past, present, and future.

Architect Michael Turner, a senior lecturer at the School of Architecture of the Bezalel Academy of Arts in Jerusalem, points to the historic city of Prague, stressing that its beautiful center has been left untouched. Neither existing roads nor the public transport system have undergone changes. Prague attracts millions of visitors each year, Turner says, and its leaders see no need to disturb or "improve" its center.

Similarly, cities such as Rome and Amsterdam are exemplary guardians of their precious old centers, in which no new construction is permitted.

Israel was slow to appreciate the importance of cultural heritage and the need to preserve the significant old. It was certainly slower than Western Europe, where the Year of World Cultural Heritage was declared back in 1975.

Rules of the Game

Are there any hard and fast rules guiding the decisions about preservation? Most planners agree that there are no set criteria, no objective yardsticks by which to measure the value of buildings or neighborhoods. They agree that such values are an indeterminate and sometimes indefinable blend of national, religious, historic, ethnographic, aesthetic, and even nostalgic components.

No one disputes the existence of all these attributes in Jerusalem. The entire Old City has been declared a historic monument. Many of the sites within its walls—including the walls themselves, built in the 16th century by the Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent, are antique. (The Israel Antiquities Law from 1978 defines "antiquity" as "any object, detached or fixed, made by man before the year 1700.")

Advocating modernization, Danish-born Jerusalemite architect Ulrik Plesner says that "stagnation and poverty are the main factors for preservation." Plesner has drawn up plans for some massive building in the area around Jerusalem's railway station, itself an Ottoman building constructed in 1892.

"Modern economy does not allow for small buildings," he states. Nevertheless, he feels strongly that an area in which more buildings are to be added must preserve its characteristic personality. "The height of a house, the type of materials used, the kind of roof built, the percentage of construction on a given plot, setting the building back from the road—these are the rules that determine quality," Plesner insists. As for preservation or demolition, he believes that each case must be judged on its own merits.

One barrier to new development in Israel is the discovery of ancient bones. These are sometimes encountered in the building of new roads. This was the case in the construction of a major arterial road in the north of Jerusalem. Groups of ultra-orthodox Jews demonstrated in violent opposition to disturbing unidentified ancient human bones.

(The Attorney-General has since ruled that human bones are not considered antiquities and a partial solution has been found.) There are similar problems in the United States with native Americans and in Australia with aboriginal burial grounds.

Success Stories

In recent years there have been some last-minute rescue operations and several successful revitalization projects. A windmill, which at one time served as the residence of the Dutch ambassador, was slated for demolition to make room for a new apartment building. At the last minute, the municipality rezoned the plot from residential to commercial, with the result that now there are shops, boutiques, and restaurants in the old windmill.

The picturesque neighborhood of Nahlat Shiva in the heart of Jerusalem was the third residential quarter built outside the Old City walls. The year was 1869 and the difficulties were considerable. The area was totally barren.

Seven builders, descendants of pupils of the Gaon of Vilna, wanted to translate into deeds what the master had preached, that the building of Jerusalem was an important factor in bringing about the Redemption. They bought a tract of land from several Arab owners and built modest dwellings. The homes were at first occupied only by the male family members, the women being afraid to venture out of the Old City.

In 1959, an office building was erected in Nahlat Shiva and a number of buildings were destroyed in what was intended to be the complete demolition of the old quarter to make way for more office buildings.

Spurred by the Council for a Beautiful Israel and the Society for the Protection of Nature, public opinion was mobilized. The result was that the demolition plan was scrapped and a revitalization program initiated. The accent was on preservation.

Today the quarter's main street, Solomon Street, is a pedestrian mall, an excellent example of how the character of a neighborhood can be preserved. Old synagogues from the 19th century have been left intact and old courtyards beautified.

Part of the original architecture as well as the narrow side streets with water cisterns, originally constructed to catch rainwater, were left to preserve the authentic atmosphere. With restaurants, boutiques, and arts and crafts galleries, the neighborhood is now a popular recreation center.

Jerusalem's City Hall in Safra Square—a complex of ten reconstructed and three new buildings within the 16-acre Russian Compound—was inaugurated in 1993. With the buildings slated for preservation, the procedure was careful and painstaking.

For instance, exterior features such as copper lettering on facades and enamel street plaques were removed and stored before sandblasting, later to be replaced. Tiled roofs were dismantled and reinstalled. Marble floors, stairs, and balustrades were preserved, and no aluminum— felt to be out of character with the buildings—was used for window frames.

Remaining Threats to Preservation

At the same time that there is concern about preserving some historic buildings, others are being threatened. Plans are afoot, though not finalized, to widen the unique Street of the Prophets, with its quaint houses and hidden courtyards, universally considered one of the jewels of this city. Citizens' committees meet to fight the street widening to three lanes and to prevent the demolition of any of the houses.

An elegant demonstration of how to pressure the powers-that-be to leave well enough alone was a one-day transformation of the Street of the Prophets into a "living museum." With the street closed to traffic for part of the day, the many colorful figures who had once inhabited the street "came alive" in the figures of costumed actors and dancers before crowds of Jerusalemites gathered for the occasion.

There is no doubt that there is a built-in conflict between preservation and development; this spells a constant tug of war. In the last few years public opinion and awareness of these issues has increased enormously. This is particularly necessary because municipal authorities in Jerusalem, as in so many other cities worldwide, are often inclined to heed the demands of developers rather than to stand on guard to protect the city's cultural heritage and environmental quality.

Lili Eylon is a freelance journalist based in Jeruselem.

This article is a condensed version of one originally published in ARIEL, the Israel Review of Arts and Letters.

A 1993 addition to the municipality complex stands among reconstructed buildings. Part of the municipality garden is visible. The Jerusalem Municipality A reconstructed building within the Jerusalem municipality complex. The Jerusalem Municipality Until 1917 the Sergei Building was a hostel for aristocratic pilgrims from Russia. Today it is the headquarters of the Society for the Protection of Nature. The Jerusalem Municipality A building in Yemin Moshe, the first quarter built outside the Old City walls (1860). Almost all of the old houses have been renovated for residential purposes. The Jerusalem Municipality One of the arcades of the Rockefeller Museum, built at the beginning,of the 20th century. Its inner court served as a model for the the Supreme Court, built 80 years later. Note the antique items along the walls. The Jerusalem Municipality A view of Ein Karem on the outskirts of Jerusalem, birthplace of John the Baptist. In the foreground a mosque, in the center a church, and in the background is a Hadassah Hospital complex. All the buildings in this village are on the list for preservation. The Jerusalem Municipality One of the modified Bauhaus structures in Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Municipality A sun clock distinguishes this late 19th century house located opposite Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem's historic open fruit and vegetable market. The Jerusalem Municipality   Click on thumbnail images to view full-size pictures.