What to See in Haifa - Top Sights and Attractions

Domed-shaped edifice with sacred remains. The Shrine of the Báb is a structure on the slopes of Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel, where the remains of the Báb, founder of the Bábí Faith and forerunner of Baháʼu'lláh in the Baháʼí Faith, are buried; it is considered to be the second holiest place on Earth for Baháʼís, after the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh in Acre. Its precise location on Mount Carmel was designated by Baháʼu'lláh himself to his eldest son, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, in 1891. ʻAbdu'l-Bahá planned the structure, which was designed and completed several years later by his grandson, Shoghi Effendi.

Crowning the design, as anticipated by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, is a dome, which is set on an 18-windowed drum. That, in turn, is mounted on an octagon, a feature suggested by Shoghi Effendi. An arcade surrounds the stone edifice. A restoration project of the exterior and interior of the shrine started in 2008 and was completed in April 2011.^[1]

The Universal House of Justice is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate on issues not already addressed in the Baháʼí writings, providing flexibility for the Baháʼí Faith to adapt to changing conditions. It was first elected in 1963, and subsequently every five years, by delegates consisting of the members of Baháʼí National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world.

The Universal House of Justice, as the head of the religion, has provided direction to the worldwide Baháʼí community primarily through a series of multi-year plans, as well as through annual messages delivered during the Ridván festival. The messages have focused on increasing the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies, translating Baháʼí literature, establishing Baháʼí Centres, completing Baháʼí Houses of Worship, holding international conferences, and developing educational systems to enhance literacy, the role of women, spirituality for children and youth, family life, social and economic development, and communal worship. The Universal House of Justice has also played a role in responding to systemic persecution of Baháʼís in Iran by garnering worldwide media attention.

The books and documents published by the Universal House of Justice are considered authoritative and its legislative decisions are considered infallible by Baháʼís. Although it is empowered to legislate on matters that are not addressed in the Baha'i holy writings, the Universal House of Justice has rarely exercised this function.

The Seat of the Universal House of Justice and its members reside in Haifa, Israel, on the slope of Mount Carmel. The most recent election was 29 April 2018. Although all other elected and appointed roles in the Baháʼí Faith are open to men and women, membership on the Universal House of Justice is male-only; the Baháʼí writings indicate that the reason for this will become clear in the future.^[3]

Bahá'í World Centre. The Baháʼí World Centre buildings are buildings that are part of the Baháʼí World Centre in Israel. The Baháʼí World Centre buildings include both the Baháʼí holy places used for pilgrimage and the international administrative bodies of the Baháʼí Faith; they comprise more than 20 different administrative offices, pilgrim buildings, libraries, archives, historical residences, and shrines. These structures are all set amidst more than 30 different gardens or individual terraces.

The buildings themselves are located in Haifa, Acre, and Bahjí, Israel. The location of the Baháʼí World Centre buildings has its roots in Baháʼu'lláh's imprisonment in Acre, which is near Haifa, by the Ottoman Empire during the period of Ottoman rule over Palestine, now Israel.

Many Baháʼí holy places in Haifa and around Acre, including the terraces and the Shrine of the Báb on the north slope on Mount Carmel, and the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh, the Mansion of Bahji, and the Mansion at Mazra'ih were inscribed on the World Heritage List in July 2008. The Baháʼí shrines "are the first sites connected with a relatively new religious tradition to be recognized by the World Heritage List." The UNESCO World Heritage Committee considers the sites to be "of outstanding universal value...inscribed for the testimony they provide to the Baháʼí's strong tradition of pilgrimage and for their profound meaning for the faith."^[4]

Bus station in Haifa, Israel. th

Carmel Beach central bus station is the main bus station in Haifa, Israel, replacing the Haifa Bat Galim central bus station. The former station is now only used to store Egged buses and for Egged office space and inner-city buses now only stop there on the road rather than inside on the route between Haifa Hof HaCarmel central bus station and the Mifratz central bus station. Carmel Beach central bus station opened in 19 August 2003. Since then, all buses coming from the South which formerly ended at Haifa Bat Galim central bus station terminate at Carmel Beach central bus station and new more frequent lines operate between the three stations. Passengers can get a free transfer to urban buses when they buy their inter-city ticket to continue from one central bus station to the other one, or into the city.

Carmel Beach central bus station serves local Egged bus lines within the city of Haifa and all intercity Egged bus routes heading to the South. The station is also a mall. It has one level and has stores and a food court. At the waiting area for departing buses, there are doors to go outside to the bus platform. At the arrival area, people go inside a door to the building.

Carmel Beach central bus station is adjacent to Haifa Carmel Beach railway station. There is a tunnel connecting the bus station with the train station. From the train station, there is a tunnel to the beach.

A list of Egged's intercity bus lines at Carmel Beach CBS:^[5]

Ocean-related exhibits and artifacts. The National Maritime Museum is a maritime and archaeological museum in Haifa, Israel.

The museum was founded in 1953, based on the private collection of its founder and first director, Aryeh Ben-Eli. In 1972, the museum moved to its current premises near the northern beachhead of Mount Carmel, between Stella Maris and Bat Galim neighborhoods. Nearby are the Israeli Clandestine Immigration and Naval Museum and the Cave of Elijah.

The Marine Workshop of the Leon Recanati Institute for Maritime Studies, affiliated with the University of Haifa is located at the museum. The workshop provides professional diving and field surveying services for field research conducted at the institute.

Archaeological finds on permanent display at the museum include the Athlit Ram, a bronze ram of a 2nd-century BCE warship.^[7]

Neve David is an Epipalaeolithic archaeological site located at the foot of the western slope of the Mount Carmel hills in northern Israel. It was inhabited in the later part of the Middle Epipalaeolithic, about 15,000–13,000 BC.

Today, the Neve David site is just about 1 km (0.62 mi) from the Mediterranean coastline, but in the final Pleistocene, it was 10–13 km (6.2–8.1 mi) from the shore, overlooking a broad coastal plain. It was thus situated at an ecotone, the boundary between two contrasting ecological zones, with the seasonally dry valleys of the Mount Carmel limestone massif to its east, and the Mediterranean coastal plain to its west. Such locations with access to two complementing ecological resources were favoured by many Epipaleolithic and Neolithic communities.^[12]

Pilgrimage place in Haifa, Israel. The Cave of Elijah is a grotto that appears in the Hebrew Bible, where the prophet Elijah took shelter during a journey into the wilderness.

The exact location of the cave is unknown. There is a "Cave of Elijah" on Mount Carmel approximately 40 m above sea level in Haifa. For centuries it has been a pilgrimage destination for Jewish, Christian, Druze and Muslim people. Another cave associated with Elijah is located nearby, under the altar of the main church of the Stella Maris Monastery, also on Mount Carmel.

The name of the cave is also known as el-Khader in Arabic The Druze regard the Cave of Elijah as holy, and the identify Elijah as "El-Khidr", the green prophet who symbolizes water and life, a miracle who cures the sick.^[18]

Cathedral in Haifa, Israel. The St. Elijah Cathedral also called St. Elias Greek-Melkite Cathedral, is the name given to the Melkite cathedral in Haifa, serving the Greek-Catholics of the Byzantine rite making up the majority of Christians in both Haifa and Israel. St. Elijah Cathedral is the cathedral of the Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Akka, which was created by bull Episcopalis synodus of Pope Paul VI.

The cathedral was designed by architect Sammihom Atallah. The construction of the cathedral began in 1938 and ended in 1939. Since 1861 the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Akka was the church of the Virgin Mary in Haifa. After the Arab-Israeli war (between 1947-1949), most Melkites, who lived in the area, moved to the lower city of Haifa, and the bishop's chair was moved to the church St. Elijah (St. Elias).

The front of the cathedral is crowned with a cross, which is a few meters away from a small bell tower. On the portal is the biblical story of the prophet Elijah.^[19]