Add a review about Tel-Aviv House-Pagoda

In each city there are legacy houses, like, for example, a Moscow bad apartment for the Patriarchs. There are many such places in Tel Aviv, one of them is Dom-Pagoda.

Built in 1925 by the project of Alexander Levy in King Albert II Square, the Pagoda House became part of the history of the returnees of the so-called third Aliya - the period 1919-1925, when more than 40,000 Jews from Eastern Europe moved to Palestine.

The name "pagoda" the house got because of the styling of its sloping roof under Japanese aesthetics, however this is a very exaggerated comparison. In addition to Buddhist there are also oriental motifs, and medieval-Christian, and Moorish, and even the aesthetics of Art Nouveau. This stylistic eclecticism, uncharacteristic in general for the restrained architecture of Tel Aviv, was to demonstrate wealth and glamor despite the violation of the ideological integrity of the structure.

The facade arches of the second floor of the House-Pagoda repeat the Christian basilica of the early Middle Ages, the third floor attracts attention with Greek columns, the open pavilion of the fourth floor is surrounded by pillars and arches of Moorish style, and at last this variety of stylistic components of the pyramid, outwardly reminiscent of the Japanese pagoda, is crowned.

A kind of architectural monster, as it may seem from the description. However, such buildings were at the peak of popularity in the United States in the 20s of the 20th century, and so far something similar is being built in Las Vegas.

Architecture of Tel Aviv. The preservation of old buildings

The Pagoda House was built for Maurice Bloch, a wealthy emigrant who moved to Israel from America at the end of World War I.

An interesting fact is the variety of flags, which for its history saw this unusual house on its balconies. Under Maurice Bloch, these were the flags of the United States, Great Britain and the Zionist movement.

Nowadays, the House Pagoda belongs to the Swedish billionaire Robert Vail, who rebuilt the building into a posh villa with a cinema hall, a wine cellar, a swimming pool, a massage parlor and a computerized control system for all rooms. When Vile is in Tel Aviv, usually on Christmas Day, Swedish and Israeli flags are hung out on the balconies of the Pagoda House.

Address: Montefiore 41, Tel Aviv-Yafo.