Hadar Hacarmel (Hebrew: הדר הכרמל lit. "Splendor of the Carmel") (widely known as Hadar) is a neighborhood of Haifa, Israel. Located on the northern slope of Mount Carmel between the upper and lower city, overlooking the Port of Haifa and Haifa Bay, it was once the commercial center of Haifa.
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The name of the neighborhood is derived from a verse in Isaiah 35:2.
Hadar Hacarmel was founded before World War I. By 1944, most of Haifa's 66,000 Jewish residents lived in Hadar Hacarmel.[1] Haifa's city hall, courthouse and government buildings were located in this neighborhood, but relocated to the lower city (Downtown) in the turn of the 21st century.[2]
The Technion was located in Hadar until the new Kiryat Hatechnion (Technion City) campus was inaugurated in Neve Sha'anan in the late 70's. The old historic building, dating from 1912, is now a hands-on science museum, the Israel National Museum of Science, Technology, and Space. The Carmelit, Israel's only subway, runs from Carmel Center to Paris Square via Hadar Hacarmel, where three of its six stations are located. Beit HaGefen, an Arab-Jewish cultural center, is located on the seamline of Hadar HaCarmel and Wadi Nisnas. The neighborhood has many Bauhaus buildings designed by German-Jewish architects who settled in Palestine after fleeing the Nazis.[3]
Hadar HaCarmel now has 37,170 residents, accounting for 14% of Haifa's population. It is a neighborhood in flux with a large percentage of new immigrants from the former Soviet Union.[4]
Hadar HaCarmel consists of four districts: Hadar West, Hadar East, Central Hadar and Upper Hadar. Hadar West has a population of 7,940 and is 62% Arab. The Ba'hai Shrine and Universal House of Justice are located in this district. 10,340 people live in Upper Hadar, which is now largely Haredi. Central Hadar has a population of 9,450 and contains many of Haifa's architectural, cultural and historical landmarks. Haifa Theater; AlMeidan Theater; Madatech, the National Science Museum; Binyamin Park and Talpiot market are located in Central Hadar. Hadar East, with a population of 9,440, is divided into three neighborhoods; Yalag, Geula and Ramat Viznitz. [5]