Tel Aviv Districts

Tel Aviv-Yafo is divided into 9 administrative districts, called "Rova'im." The districts and their boundaries are shown on the map below.

Districts 1 and 2 are north of the Yarkon River. Ramat Aviv, a high-income residential area and the campus of Tel Aviv University are located in District 1.

Districts 3 and 4 are the Old and New Tel Aviv North (Tzafon), respectively. Ibn Gvirol, the eastern border of Tel Aviv in the 1930's, is now the dividing line between Districts 3 and 4.

In District 3, Dizengoff Square, has a raised platform for pedestrians and a spectacular "Fire and Water Fountain" designed by the famous artist Ya'akov Agam. Right nearby is the Dizengoff Center, Tel Aviv's first shopping mall, built in the 1980's on the site of a dismal shanty town. On the beach, along Rechov HaYarkon, is Tel Aviv's major hotel area. The 2km long, boardwalk-like, highly popular Tayelet lets you stroll along the beach in a highly modernistic setting.

The center of District 4 is the immense roundabout Plaza at Weizman and Jabotinsky named after Independence Day. At the south end of the district are the Museum of Art and the Performing Arts Center.

District 5 was the heart of Old Tel Aviv. Rechov Allenby was the main drag snd Dizengoff the center of entertainment. Magen David Square at the intersection of Allenby with a number of major roads, was known, affectionately, as Potsdamer Platz. The nearby Yemenite quarter was an ethnically interesting neighborhood and is again being refurbished. Near the other end of Allenby is the Shalom Tower, completed in 1965, Israel's first skyscraper. Within a few blocks are the Great Synagogue and the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Competing for trendiness are the shops, bars and cafes of Rechov Sheinkin and those of Neve Tzedek in the soutwest of the district. The latter was founded in 1887 as a Jewish area outside Jaffa and had become a slum before being gentrified as a fashionable residential and business area.

District 6 is all commercial and government. Rechov Eliezer Kaplan is replete with business highrisers. At its eastern end near the Ayalon Highway is the Azrieli Center complex of three towers, the tallest being more than 600 feet high - an impressive architectural achievement. The government offices are at HaKirya, at one time a village of German Templers called Sarona. To widen the street, the old German country homes were moved and renovated for preservation.

District 7 is ancient and modern Yafo. Parts of the Old City have been restored and represent a first-class tourist attraction. Work is under way to restore the port area as well.

Districts 8 and 9 are composed of neighborhoods originally part of Jaffa and others such as Yad Eliyahu and Nachlat Yitzchak.

ORIGINAL:

Metropolitan Tel Aviv

Metro Tel Aviv, often referred to as Gush Dan, includes, in addition to Tel Aviv-Yafo, surrounding cities such as Petach Tikva, Herzliya, Ramat Gan, Rishon LeZion, Rehovot and others. These cities form a single economic unit with a population exceeding two million. They are interconnected by an extensive highway system as shown on the map below.

Tel Aviv-Yafo

In 1909, Jaffa (Yafo in Hebrew) was the major port city of Ottoman Palestine when Tel Aviv was founded by 66 Jaffa families as an all-Jewish suburb. Nowadays Yafo is a picturesque neighborhood of the Tel Aviv municipality which has a population of 400,000. After initial setbacks during the Turkish regime Tel Aviv grew by the influx of Jews from Jaffa and later in the nineteen thirties by mass immigration from Nazi-Germany. German-Jewish architects were responsible for the design of the "White City" consisting of some 4,000 buildings based on ideas of the Bauhaus School and famous architect Le Corbusier. The buidings are located in the area north of Allenby Street and south of the Yarkon river.The White City is now a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site.

Neighborhoods

Tel Aviv-Yafo is divided into 9 administrative districts, called "Rova'im." The districts and their boundaries are shown on the map below. Districts 1 and 2 are north of the Yarkon River. Ramat Aviv, a high-income residential area and the campus of Tel Aviv University are located in District 1. Districts 3 and 4 are the Old and New Tel Aviv North (Tzafon), respectively. District 5 was the heart of Old Tel Aviv. District 6 is all commercial and government. District 7 is ancient and modern Yafo. Districts 8 and 9 are mainly composed of neighborhoods originally part of Jaffa.

Museums

Tel Aviv has some 20 museums. The Tel Aviv Museum of Art is a showcase of the works of Israeli artists. It is located on Sderot Sha'ul HaMelech. To learn more about the White City, visit the Bauhaus Center on Dizengoff near Frishman. There are a number of interesting museums in Ramat Aviv, north of the Yarkon River. Bet Hatfutzot/Diaspora Museum on the Tel Aviv University Campus is a wonderful presentation of the historical record of the Jewish people. The Eretz Israel Museum deals with the history of the country and is located on Levanon Street. Right next door is the Palmach Museum.

Performing Arts

The Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center is a complex of theaters on Sderot Sha'ul Hamelech for the presentation of opera, dance and musical performances. The Mann Auditorium, home of the world-famous Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, is located at the beginning of Dizengoff. Next door is the home of HaBima, the Israeli national theater company. Another noted theater group is Cameri on Eliezer Kaplan & Leonardo da Vinci. A third, experimental, theater is Beit Lessin on Dizengoff at Frishman. Gesher Theater in Yafo South on Jerusalem Street presents plays in Hebrew and Russian. There are performances of Modern Dance at the Susan Dellal Center in Neve Tzedek.

Recreation

Tel Aviv offers the liveliest Nightlife in the country in its Bar and Club Scene. For dining there is a vast selection of restaurants. For daytime pleasures there are magnificent Ocean Beaches, North and South, the Yarkon Park and Luna Park in the Trade Fairs and Convention Center on Rokach, east of the Ayalon Highway.