page_title: Talpiot
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Talpiot / History
caption_attribution_description: Talpiot en 2006
context_page_description: Talpiot is an Israeli neighborhood in southeastern Jerusalem, established in 1922 by Zionist pioneers. It was built as a garden suburb on land purchased by the Tel Aviv-based Palestine Land Development Company and other Jewish building societies.
  Talpiot has become a major commercial center and a hub of nonprofit organizations. The Talpiot industrial zone is one of the largest in the country, with plans for expansion as a center of shopping, entertainment and industry.
context_section_description: In the 1920s, the Bauhaus architect Richard Kauffmann presented the British Mandate authorities with a plan for Talpiot, which he designed as a garden suburb. The plan included a large building that he envisioned as a future parliament, redesignated as an art gallery to appease the doubters. The first residents were clerical and office personnel. Living in the neighbourhood required membership in a mutual society to which dues were paid. Despite a British Mandate regulation stating that all buildings in Jerusalem must be made of Jerusalem stone, developers in Talpiot were permitted to use stucco-covered concrete because of the high demand for housing.
  The early settlers were evacuated from Talpiot in the wake of the 1929 Hebron massacre, but they later returned. When the British left Jerusalem in May 1948, a Haganah military brigade launched Operation Kilshon to seize security zones that had been occupied by the British and defend Jerusalem against attacks by the Arab Legion. The British army camp in Talpiot, known as Mahane Allenby, was one of the strategic sites captured in the operation.
  After the 1947–1949 Palestine war, Talpiot became the frontier, surrounded by Jordanian-ruled East Jerusalem, but Israelis continued to live there. The neighbourhood expanded significantly after the 1967 Six-Day War. New residential districts were established in the enclave formerly controlled by the United Nations, which had been a no man's land. A tent camp established on the western outskirts of Talpiot for immigrants after Israel's independence was replaced by a large industrial zone to house the businesses evicted from Mamilla.
  On May 24, 2001, the third floor of the Versailles wedding hall in Talpiot collapsed during a wedding party, killing 23 and injuring more than 200. The collapse was blamed on poor construction, using a system called Pal-Kal which was deemed unfit for public buildings. The incident is considered Israel's worst civil disaster.
  Talpiot today consists of several districts. "Old Talpiot" is the historic residential neighborhood founded in 1922. Adjacent and south of this is Arnona, founded in 1931 but largely undeveloped until the 1980s. North Talpiot, built after 1967, offers panoramic views of the Hinnom and Kidron Valleys, and the Old City. Across Derech Hevron to the west is the Talpiot industrial zone, now one of Jerusalem's main shopping districts. To the east is the neighborhood of East Talpiot, also known as Armon HaNetziv. Mahane Allenby was torn down and eight-story residential towers were built on the land. A parcel remains undeveloped, awaiting the relocation of the US Embassy from Tel Aviv.
  The main offices of the US Consulate General in Jerusalem were relocated to the eastern ridge of Talpiot in 2010.
caption: Talpiot industrial zone, 2006
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