HERZLIYA

'Herzliya' (in , without Niqqud: הרצלייה, pronounced ''Hertseliya'') is a city of approximately 83,000 located on Israel's central coastal strip in the south of the Sharon region, just north of the city of Tel Aviv. The city is considered to be a part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area and is part of the Tel Aviv District. Named after Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern Zionism, Herzliya covers 26 km² in its jurisdiction including, in the coastal neighbourhood of Herzliya Pitu'ah, some of Israel's most expensive real estate which houses many ambassadorial staff.

Contents

History

Herzliya Pitu'ah

City mayors

Sports

Sister cities

External links

History

Founded in 1924 by seven pioneering families on land close to the site of the ancient crusader city of Arsuf, the city of Herzliya is named after Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism. As such, Herzliya's flag features seven stars to salute Herzl's idea of the seven-hour working day, as well as a small boat, two packs of wheat and a boat's steering wheel. Herzliya officially became a city in 1960.
During the 1970s a large marina was built in Herzliya, as well as a small airport (code: HRZ), an old shopping district in Sokolov street (now in renovation – aka "The New Center of Herzliya"), two malls (Arena Mall and Shiv'at HaKokhavim Mall), movie theaters, museums, cultural centers, and an olympic stadium and target range. Herzliya also has professional basketball and soccer teams and is home to Israel's largest film studios, Ulpanei Herzliya (Herzliya's Studios) which are the studios of Reshet and the Children's Channel (the most popular channel for kids in Israel).
In addition to the Herzliya Interdisciplinary Center, there are a number of public and private schools in the city, including the science high school ''Alley Way''.
On the town's northern coast, a national park features the ruins of Apollonia (Arsuf), which was a town of some seventeen centuries' standing when it was destroyed during the expulsion of the Crusaders.

Herzliya Pitu'ah

Western Herzliya, also called Herzliya-Pitu'ah, is located on the Mediterranean Sea coast and contains a stretch of popular beach front hotels, high-tech business area, busy restaurants and an exclusive residential area housing the residence of the Ambassador of the United States as well as much of Israel's ''crème de la crème''. Herzliya a popular tourist location in Israel and its many hotels, including the Dan Accadia, Daniel, Sharon, and Okeanos hotels have over 650 rooms along the coast, with another 750 planned as part of the marina project.
The marina, built during the 1980s by mayor Eli Landau, is located to the south of the Accadia Hotel, and covers an area of 500 dunams (0.5 km²). The complex includes a shopping complex, marina-side dining, and entertainment and sports fields, as well as high-priced housing. Building of the marina has not been without controversy, as many have argued that it has damaged the beach, blocking sand that moves from the south and thereby narrowing the beaches to the north.
Perched on a ledge 100m north of the entrance to Nof Yam Beach is an inhabited sandcastle known as Hermit House. Its owner and creator is Nissim Cachlon who has been building the structure since 1978 with natural sea materials as well as tires, bottles, broken plates, and other debris washed ashore. Peevish Israeli authorities have so far been unable to oust him. Hermit House is a spectacular though unconventional example of vernacular architecture.

City mayors

# Avraham Hirsch, 1937-1938
# Shimon ("Poppy") Levin, 1938-1943
# Ben Zion Mikhaeli, 1943-1960
# Pesah Yifher, 1960-1966
# Interim council led by Natan Rozental, 1966-1967
# Yosef Navo, 1969-1983
# Eli Landau, 1983-1998 (Likud)
# Yael German, 1998-present (Meretz)

Sports

Herzliya is home to two professional football (soccer) clubs, Maccabi Herzliya and Hapoel Herzliya. For many years the two clubs languished together in Israel's lower divisions. Today, Maccabi Herzliya plays in Israel's Ligat ha'Al (Premier League). Both clubs use the Municipal Stadium.

Sister cities

Herzliya has many sister cities including:

★ Alicante, Spain

★ Banska Bystrica, Slovakia

★ Bursa, Turkey

★ Columbus, Ohio, United States

★ Dnipropetrovsk, Ukraine

★ Funchal, Portugal

★ Hollywood, Florida, USA

★ Marl, Germany

★ San Isidro, Argentina

★ San Isidro, Peru

★ Toulon, France

External links

★ Official website

★ Herzliya marina

★ Wikitravel: Herzliya

★ Herzliya Museum

★ Photos of Herzliya