Thursday, April 21, 2011

A souvenir of Mugrabi

A lake, a tower, a colosseum and a cinema (?)

on the back

This napkin from the "Souvenir of Israel" series shows some hot spots to remember.
A rather detailed illustration and a rich 3 color print. It displays the landscape of Tiberias and sea of the Galilee, Jerusalem's "Citradel" (Migdal David), the ancient Roman colosseum in Caeserea and then, a surprise. Mugrabi cinema hall in Tel-Aviv.
Unlike the citradel and colosseum that still remain standing in a very impressive condition after hundreds of years, Mugrabi cinema hall didn't survive a whole century. It was opened to business in 1930 and became an important cultural center and one of the most popular hang-outs in the early days of Tel-Aviv.
Unfortunately it was burned in 1986 and demolished in 1989.. Now days you can find a depressing parking lot where it stood, but probably not for long. Another big luxury residence is planned for this area instead of reviving the cinema hall. I guess the future residents will have a nice home theater system in their luxury apartment to watch films instead.

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