A street of many tales: A tour sheds light on Jerusalem's Agron Street

• Published date: 02 April 2024
• Author: BARRY DAVIS
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

The annual Open Houses event certainly offers advantages in that department. Take, for instance, the History on Agron Street Hebrew-language guided tour due to take place on April 6 and 13 under the practiced and entertaining aegis of Rafi Kfir

Kfir has been on the Jerusalem tour guide scene for over 30 years. Born and bred in the capital – with a protracted hiatus up north thereafter – he has been enlightening folk about some of the historical facts and folklore subtexts that underpin neighborhoods and edifices around the capital in irrepressible style.

The history of Jerusalem

His enthusiasm for the city and its historical backdrop is evident from the off, when we meet up at Paris Square at the junction of Keren Hayesod Street, Ramban Street, King George Street, Azza Street and, more to the point, Agron Street.

It is the latter that forms the main artery – in both a physical and topical sense – of Kfir's slot in the forthcoming edition of Open Houses, which encompasses a full 152 tours and activities all around the city across two weekends – April 4-6 and 11-13. Some require prior registration on the Open Houses website, while others will operate on a first come first served basis. All events are free.

Kfir starts out by telling me – somewhat superfluously – that Agron Street was named after Gershon Agron, the founder and first editor-in-chief of The Jerusalem Post – then called The Palestine Post. A seasoned raconteur, Kfir regales me with colorful anecdotes of Agron's political travails when he served as mayor of Jerusalem in the late 1950s, and the infighting shenanigans that brought about his fall from mayoral grace.

In fact, History on Agron Street strays a little beyond the strict confines of the thoroughfare in question.

"This is a very important spot," Kfir informs me before we leave Paris Square and its fetching fountain.

"Look over there at Terra Sancta," he says, pointing to our right, to the imposing edifice on the corner of Azza and Keren Hayesod streets. I remembered visiting it in the early 1980s, when it housed the British Library, then run by the British Council. I recalled the enticing "olde worlde" ambiance of the interior and the magnificent staircase with its ornate balustrade.

The exterior isn't bad either, combining elements of Italian Renaissance with Oriental features.

"Terra Sancta was built by a Christian organization from Milan [Italy], and the statue you see up there on the roof is not the Madonna, it is the Madonnina, a...