Kiryat Yovel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kiryat Yovel (Hebrew קרית יובל) is a middle class neighborhood in southern Jerusalem.
Kiryat Yovel is home to 12,000 citizens, and a crossroads connecting the southern neighborhoods to the central and northern Jerusalem. It also located right above Ein Kerem, a village important to Christians, hosting thousands of tourists every year.
[edit] History
Kiryat Yovel was established in the beginning of the 1950s. In Hebrew, Yovel means "50 years" (see jubilee), and Kirya means a campus. In the beginning, this place was a Maabara. It was originally inhabited by Jews who just came to Israel escaping Arab countries, whose property had been confiscated in toto by the Arab authorities in the countries from which they had fled. What was originally a tent city eventually became a rather impoverished neighborhood after an extensive housing complex was built.
As Jerusalem developed to the west, the neighborhood slowly became closer to the heart of the urban area, ending decades of general poverty. New streets were built as many middle-class citizens began to move to the area.
On March 29, 2002, Ayat al-Akhras, an 18-year-old Palestinian terrorist blew herself up in Kiryat Yovel's central supermarket, killing herself and two other people. However, the neighborhood quickly recovered.
[edit] Culture
Kiryat Yovel has become an economic and cultural center, providing services to many of its adjacent neighborhoods. The neighborhood has 3 public swimming pools, a large library and many group activities. It is also home to the Mifletzet gardens.
It also located between two important hospitals-Hadassah, and Shaarei Zedek Medical Center[1]. Kiryat Yovel contains some of the better schools in Jerusalem- May Bojar and the Science-Art school.
