Name | Ramla |
---|---|
Imgsize | 80 |
Image3 | RamleviewS.jpg |
Imgsize3 | 250 |
Hebname | |
Iso | Ramla |
Arname | الرملة |
Founded | 716 |
Type | city |
Altunosp | Ramleh |
District | center |
Population | 65,800 |
Popyear | 2009 |
Area dunam | 9993 |
Pushpin map | Israel center ta |
Mayor | Yoel Lavi }} |
It was conquered many times in the course of its history, by the Abbasids, the Ikhshidids, the Fatamids, the Seljuqs, the Crusaders, the Mameluks, the Turks, the British, and the Israelis. After an outbreak of the Black Death in 1347, which greatly reduced the population, an order of Franciscan monks established a presence in the city. Under Arab and Ottoman rule the city become an important trade center. Napoleon's French Army occupied it in 1799 on its way to Acre.
Most of the town's Arab residents were expelled during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War while others remained in the town. The town was subsequently repopulated by Jewish immigrants. In 2001, 80% of the population were Jewish and 20% Arab (16% Muslim Arabs and 4% Christian Arabs).
In recent years, attempts have been made to develop and beautify the city, which has been plagued by neglect, financial problems and a negative public image. New shopping malls and public parks have been built, and a municipal museum opened in 2001.
A geographer, el-Muqadasi ("the Jerusalemite"), describes Ramla at the peak of its prosperity: "It is a fine city, and well built; its water is good and plentiful; it fruits are abundant. It combines manifold advantages, situated as it is in the midst of beautiful villages and lordly towns, near to holy places and pleasant hamlets. Commerce here is prosperous, and the markets excellent...The bread is of the best and the whitest. The lands are well favoured above all others, and the fruits are the most luscious. This capital stands among fruitful fields, walled towns and serviceable hospices...".
Ramla's economic importance, shared with the neighboring city of Lydda, was based on its strategic location. Ramla was at the intersection of two major roads, one linking Egypt with Syria and the other linking Jerusalem with the coast.
In the early years of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem, control over this strategic location led to three consecutive battles between the Crusaders and Egyptian armies from Ascalon. As Crusader rule stabilized, Ramla became the seat of a seigneury in the Kingdom of Jerusalem (the Lordship of Ramla within the County of Jaffa and Ascalon). It was a city of some economic significance and an important way station for pilgrims travelling to Jerusalem. The Crusaders identified it with the biblical Ramathaim and called it Arimathea. Around 1163 Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela visited "Rama, or Ramleh, where there are remains of the walls from the days of our ancestors, for thus it was found written upon the stones. About 300 Jews dwell there. It was formerly a very great city; at a distance of two miles there is a large Jewish cemetery." He wrote that the Crusaders had found the bones of Samuel, the biblical prophet, close to a Jewish synagogue in Ramla and "conveyed them unto Shiloh, and erected over them a large church, and called it St. Samuel of Shiloh unto this day". This site is identified with Neby Samwil overlooking Jerusalem.
Ramla was sometimes referred to as Filastin, in keeping with the common practice of referring to districts by the name of their main city.
The Israeli government used the depopulated town to house the masses of Jewish immigrants arriving at this time. By February 1949, the Jewish population was over 6,000. Ramla remained economically depressed over the next two decades, although the population steadily mounted, reaching 34,000 by 1972.
In the 1960s, Ramla was noted for its movie theaters and vibrant nightclub scene, which later relocated to Tel Aviv.
The Hospice of St. Nicodemus and St. Joseph of Arimathea on Ramla's main boulevard, Herzl Street, is easily recognized by its clock-faced, square tower. It belongs to the Franciscan church. Napoleon used the hospice as his headquarters during his Palestine campaign in 1799.
The Ramla Museum is housed in the former municipal headquarters of the British Mandatory authorities. The building, from 1922, incorporates elements of Arab architecture such as arched windows and patterned tiled floors. After 1948, it was the central district office of the Israeli Ministry of Finance. In 2001, the building became a museum documenting the history of Ramla.
The Pool of Arches, an underground water cistern, is currently under restoration. Also known as St. Helen’s Pool and Bīr al-Anezīya, it was built during the reign of the caliph Haroun al-Rashid in 789 AD (the early Islamic period) to provide Ramla with a steady supply of water.
Ramleh Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery is the largest Commonwealth war cemetery in Israel.
The Giv'on immigration detention centre is located in Ramla.
One of the finds was an eyeless troglobite or a blind scorpion, given the name Akrav israchanani honoring the researchers who identified it, Israel Naaman and Hanan Dimentman. All ten of the blind scorpions had been dead for several years, possibly because the food supply in the cave had dwindled. Seven more species of crustaceans and springtails were discovered in "Noah's Ark Cave," as it has been dubbed, several of them unknown to science.
Ramla is the center of Karaite Judaism in Israel. In 2006, 12,000 Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union and 5,000 Ethiopian Jews were living in Ramla. Ramla also has about 2,000 Jewish residents descended from the Marathi-speaking Karachi, Pakistan Bene Israel community.
Nesher Israel Cement Enterprises, Israel's sole producer of cement, maintains its flagship factory in Ramla.
Ramla Railway Station provides an hourly service on the Israel Railways Tel Aviv–Jerusalem line. The station is located in north east side of the city. It was most recently reopened on 12 April 2003, having existed for over a century at the same location. The station was originally opened in April 1891 and is the oldest active railway station in Israel.
The Arabs, both Muslims and Christian, increasingly depend on own private schools and not Israeli governmental schools. There are currently two Christian schools, such as Terra Santa School, and there is one Islamic school in preparations.
The Open House in Ramla is a preschool and daycare center for Arab and Jewish children. In the afternoons, Open House runs extracurricular coexistence programs for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim children.
Category:Cities in Israel Category:Center District (Israel) Category:Populated places established in the 8th century
ar:الرملة bs:Ramla ca:Ramla cs:Ramla da:Ramla de:Ramla es:Ramla eo:Ramlo fr:Ramla id:Ramla it:Ramla he:רמלה kl:Ramla lad:Ramla lt:Ramla nl:Ramla ja:ラムラ no:Ramla pl:Ramla (Izrael) pt:Ramla ro:Ramla ru:Рамла sco:Ramla sr:Рамла sv:Ramle tr:Ramla yi:רמלה zh:拉姆拉This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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