Tel Aviv-Yafo is Israel's coastal commercial and cultural capital, home to about 475,000 people in the city and about 4 million in the wider Gush Dan metro. It combines the Bauhaus-style White City (a UNESCO World Heritage Site), 14 km of Mediterranean beaches, the ancient port of Jaffa, the Carmel Market and a restaurant, cafe and nightlife scene that runs through the night, including on Friday evenings.
Tel Aviv-Yafo combines Jaffa, one of the oldest ports in the world with a recorded history of about 4,000 years, and Tel Aviv, founded in 1909 by 66 Jewish families as Ahuzat Bayit on dunes north of Jaffa. The new town grew as Israel's first Hebrew city, absorbed German-trained Jewish architects in the 1930s who built the White City, and hosted the declaration of the State of Israel at Independence Hall on 14 May 1948. Jaffa and Tel Aviv were merged into one municipality in 1950.
Historical timeline
Key moments that shaped Tel Aviv.
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1
Jaffa is recorded as a Canaanite port town
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2
Crusaders conquer Jaffa
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3
Napoleon captures Jaffa during his Syrian campaign
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4
German Templers found Sarona
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5
Neve Tzedek is founded as the first Jewish neighbourhood outside Jaffa
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6
Ahuzat Bayit, later Tel Aviv, is founded on 11 April on the sands north of Jaffa
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7
Riots in Jaffa; Tel Aviv gains independent municipal status
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8
Patrick Geddes drafts the city plan for north Tel Aviv
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9
Architects trained at the Bauhaus build the White City
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10
Israel declares independence at Independence Hall on 14 May
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11
Tel Aviv and Jaffa are united as one municipality
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12
UNESCO lists the White City of Tel Aviv as a World Heritage Site
Historical eras
The chapters of Tel Aviv's past.
Canaanite to Ottoman Jaffa (c. 1800 BCE-1917)
Egyptian, Philistine, Roman, Crusader and Ottoman rule over the port of Jaffa
Founding of Tel Aviv (1909-1920s)
Ahuzat Bayit and the first Hebrew city
British Mandate and Bauhaus era (1920-1948)
Growth of the White City and the Jaffa riots of 1921
Statehood to modern (1948-present)
Declaration of independence, 1950 municipal union, tech and culture hub
Historical sites
Places where Tel Aviv's past comes alive.
White City Bauhaus District
About 4,000 International Style and Bauhaus buildings from the 1930s and 1940s, listed by UNESCO in 2003.
Where: Lev HaIr and Dizengoff area
Admission: Free (guided tour about 100 ILS / approx $33)
Independence Hall
The former home of Meir Dizengoff, where David Ben-Gurion declared the State of Israel on 14 May 1948.
Where: Rothschild
Admission: About 24 ILS (approx $8), check current price
Old Jaffa Kedumim Square quarter
Stone lanes above one of the world's oldest ports, with Egyptian, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman layers.
Where: Old Jaffa
Admission: Free
Jaffa Clock Tower
Ottoman clock tower of 1903, built to mark the 25th year of Sultan Abdul Hamid II's reign.
Where: Old Jaffa
Admission: Free
Mahmoudiya Mosque
Jaffa's main mosque, built in 1812 by governor Muhammad Abu Nabbut with a fountain and Ottoman-era courtyard.
Where: Jaffa
Admission: Free
St. Peter's Church Jaffa
A Franciscan church built over a Crusader citadel on the site where St Peter is said to have raised Tabitha.
Where: Old Jaffa
Admission: Free
Hassan Bek Mosque
Built in 1916 as the last Ottoman mosque in the area, it stands between Jaffa and the modern city.
Where: Jaffa-Tel Aviv border
Admission: Free
Trumpeldor Cemetery
The city's first cemetery (1902), the resting place of Ahad Ha'am, Bialik, Dizengoff and Max Nordau.
Where: Lev HaIr
Admission: Free
Bialik House and Bialik Street
The restored 1925 house of national poet Haim Nahman Bialik on a street of 1920s eclectic-style houses.
Where: Lev HaIr
Admission: Check current price at the house
Great Synagogue of Tel Aviv
Construction began in 1926 and finished in 1970 on Allenby Street, at the time the biggest synagogue in the young city.
Where: Lev HaIr
Admission: Free
Sarona Templer Colony
German Templer settlers founded Sarona in 1871; its restored stone houses now sit among skyscrapers.
Where: Sarona
Admission: Free
Tel Qasile Excavations
A Philistine port town discovered in 1948 and excavated from 1949, with a restored temple of c. 1100 BCE.
Where: Ramat Aviv
Admission: 52 ILS (approx $17), museum ticket
Museums
Curated collections that tell Tel Aviv's story.
ANU Museum of the Jewish People
Exhibitions on 2,500 years of Jewish life, with interactive displays and a Jewish genealogy centre.
Eretz Israel Museum (MUZA)
Archaeology and ethnography pavilions plus the Tel Qasile site.
Palmach Museum
A guided walk-through multimedia tour of the Palmach strike force, 1941-1948.
Etzel Museum (Irgun Museum)
A small museum on the Irgun Zvai Leumi underground and the 1948 battle for Jaffa.
Historical tours
Guided experiences that bring history to life.
Free walking tour of Tel Aviv
Tip-based walking tours depart from central Tel Aviv and Old Jaffa; check current times online.
Bauhaus Center White City tour
Guided architecture walk booked at bauhaus-center.com.
Old Jaffa walking tour
Guided and self-guided options starting from the Clock Tower; check the Visit Tel Aviv portal for audio guides.