Where the restoration of modern-day Israel began

Just 35 kilometers south of Haifa, still on Mount Carmel, is a town of great importance: Zichron Ya'akov, "Jacob's Memorial".

It was founded in 1882 with 100 Jewish pioneers from Romania came to Israel in what later became known as the 1st Aliyah. Unfortunately, the difficulty of trying to grow grapes, wheat, and olives in the rocky soil and the presence of malaria led many to give up and leave within a year. Every family lost a child that year. To this day, the founders are still buried in the cemetery.

A year later, Baron Edmond James de Rothschild became the patron of the settlement, helped establish it as a winemaking town, and gave it the name it still holds today.

By 1903, it was the most prosperous place in all of Israel. 

Zichron Ya'akov didn't appear to be much in 1882, and there are definitely bigger, more populated, and also important cities in all of Israel. But it alone has this distinction: it is where the restoration of modern-day Israel began.

Today, you can go to Zichron Ya'achov and tour the town. The original main street is there with its original buildings, as well as the cemetery and the synagogue. It's a cool tourist destination with some museums to learn about the moshave and then enjoy the local culture. 

(a photo of what the main street looked like)

the main street today

a pottery studio!

another museum, this time telling the heroic story of the Nili spy ring during WWII.

The cemetery

the synagogue. 

This beautiful town is an important place in Israel's history. I definitely recommend spending time here if you get the chance!