Between the years 1907 and 1922, Jaffa Gate was home to an imposing 40-foot (13-m) clock tower. 

The Ottoman authorities erected the tower in honor of one of the anniversaries of Abdul Hamid.  Not all were impressed with the addition.  G. K. Chesterton described the timepiece as “an unnaturally ugly clock, at the top of an ornamental tower, or a tower that was meant to be ornamental” (The New Jerusalem [1920]). 

Jaffa Gate with clock tower, 1918-1922 Source: Jerusalem CD (Library of Congress, LC-matpc-04933)

Soon after the British took control of Jerusalem, the tower was dismantled.  According to a 1922 report of the Pro-Jerusalem Society (cited in part here), the tower “has been bodily removed from the north side of the Jaffa Gate, which it too long disfigured, and is being set up again in fulfilment of a promise (less aggressively and shorn of its more offensive trimmings) in the central and suitable neighbourhood of the Post Office Square.”

Tom Powers has recently learned that the plan was carried out, and the clock tower was re-erected, in substantially different form, in Allenby Square.  But it didn’t stay there long, for about a decade later, the tower was demolished.  According to the Palestine Post (Sept. 27, 1934), the demolition was required by roadwork being done to relieve traffic congestion.  (75 years later, roadwork to relieve congestion is still being done in the area!)

The photo below, unearthed from the Library of Congress archives by Tom Powers, shows the tower before its demolition.

The reconstruction of the Hurva Synagogue is not related to the Bible, but it has our interest because it is such a prominent feature in the Old City of Jerusalem.  Until 1948, there were two major synagogues in the Jewish Quarter, but my guess is that most visitors today are unaware of Tiferet Israel.  The remains of this synagogue lie just north of the main staircase leading down to the Western Wall plaza.  Hurva, on the other hand, is well known because of its central and visible location in the Jewish Quarter plaza.  Many tour guides would stop and explain the significance of the lone arch before allowing their listeners to buy a falafel or to shop in the Cardo.

This photo below, part of The American Colony and Eric Matson Collection, is a view of the Jewish Quarter from the Temple Mount taken in the early 1900s.  The large building on the left skyline is the Tiferet Israel Synagogue.  The building with the large dome on the right is the Hurva Synagogue. 

The houses in the foreground stand where today the Western Wall prayer plaza is located.

Jewish Quarter, early 1900s

We’ve posted a number of times over the course of the synagogue’s reconstruction, and with its dedication last week we anticipate this will be the final post about it.  We conclude with recent photographs taken by Mindy McKinny. We thank her for permission to share them here.

Hurva Synagogue interior