In 1868, a Christian girls' orphanage and school, Talitha Kumi, was built in what is now part of the center of town, by the renowned architect Conrad Schick. All that now remains of the original building is a three-part memorial outside Hamashbir on King George Avenue - the original facade including a clock and engraving, a chimney, and part of a window - erected by Jerusalem architect David Kroyanker after the building was destroyed in 1980 to make way for property development.
5 comments:
I don't know...the facade is beautiful, but I wish the original was still there...
Most of what passes for "development" these days just doesn't pass the mustard.
Nice shot, Esther!
"Talitha Kumi" - Isn't that Aramaic for "Lord, come quickly"?
Thank you for posting this photo. I'm not so fond of the place itself, but I remember that if you had to meet someone downtown they always said: "Meet us at Talitha Kumi..."
Jacob, I also wish for the original building, and talitha kumi is aramaic for "young girl, arise".
Talitha Kumi still exists as a Lutheran school in Beit Jala, just south of Jerusalem. The school claims it has sought to buy back the facade pictured here, but that the Israelis have refused to sell.
An interesting note, since the Talitha Kumi school is located in Area C of the West Bank, which is accessible to both Israelis and Palestinians, it is frequently a site for meetings between Israeli and Palestinian civil society groups.
Talitha Kumi is one of the oldest and biggest private schools now in the Holy Land and doing amazing work for more than 850 girls and boys. The homepage is not the best one, but anyway: www.talithakumi.org. And you are welcome to visit Talitha Kumi, just mail to info@talitkakumi.org!
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