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‘Sharona’, the ‘Templar’ houses in Tel-Aviv

April 15th, 2009 | Comments Off

A reinforced Templar-house / © Frits de Wit

On Thursday, April 21st 2005 , it was the first time in history that a group of houses were ‘moved’ 20 meters!! This fantastic job was done by the Dutch ‘Mammoet‘ company to widen the Kaplan-street. The 5 houses were a part of Tel Aviv’s German ‘Templars’ Colony in ‘Sharona‘ that was established in 1871. The transfer of the 5 houses, at a cost of $10 million was done under the supervision of restoration-architect Amnon Bar-Or. Before the ‘move’ (street on wheels) the windows were reinforced and inforcments were placed in the structures itself. There were sensors placed in places where were cracks (painted red on the building ). If a crack would widen, a warning would have been sounded. A basement was build in the new location, on which the houses were placed after being moved. To move one house (weight: between 200 and 900 ton!!) took only 2 hours!! I think, everybody who watched this spectacle want ‘ever’ forget it. Today, the Sharona gardens are a charming intersection of old and new, and the area will soon become a leading leisure and commercial destination of the city.