King David Hotel
| King David Hotel מלון המלך דוד |
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King David Hotel
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| General information | |
| Location | Jerusalem |
| Coordinates | 31°46′28″N 35°13′21″E / 31.77444°N 35.22250°ECoordinates: 31°46′28″N 35°13′21″E / 31.77444°N 35.22250°E |
| Opening | 1931 |
| Owner | Dan Hotels |
| Management | Dan Hotels |
| Design and construction | |
| Developer | Frank Goldsmith |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 237 |
| Number of restaurants | 4 |
| Website | |
| King David Jerusalem Hotel | |
The King David Hotel (Hebrew: מלון המלך דוד Malon ha-Melekh David) (Arabic: فندق الملك داود) is a 5-star hotel in Jerusalem. Opened in 1931, the hotel was built with locally quarried pink limestone and was founded by Ezra Mosseri, a wealthy Egyptian Jewish banker. It is located on King David Street in the centre of Jerusalem, overlooking the Old City and Mount Zion.
The hotel has played an important role in the history of Jerusalem, from the struggle for Israeli statehood, through Independence War, division of Jerusalem, and the reunification, to this day. Among other things the hotel was known for being the scene of a bombing in 1946 during a terrorist attack led by the Zionist paramilitary group Irgun, and for its frequent hosting of heads of state, dignitaries and other personalities during their visit to Jerusalem. The hotel is currently owned and operated by the Dan Hotels group.
In 1929, Palestine Hotels Ltd. purchased 4.5 acres (18,000 m2) on Jerusalem's Julian’s Way, today King David Street. Half the construction costs were paid by Ezra Mosseri, an affluent Egyptian Jewish banker and director of the National Bank of Egypt, and another 46% by other wealthy Cairo Jews. The approximately 4% remaining was paid by the National Bank, which purchased 693 shares of the company between 1934 and 1943.
From its earliest days, the King David Hotel hosted royalty: the dowager empress of Persia, queen mother Nazli of Egypt and King Abdullah I of Jordan stayed at the hotel, and three heads of state forced to flee their countries took up residence there: King Alfonso XIII of Spain, forced to abdicate in 1931, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia, driven out by the Italians in 1936, and King George II of Greece who set up his government in exile at the hotel after the Nazi occupation of his country in 1942. During the British Mandate, the southern wing of the hotel was turned into a British administrative and military headquarters.
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Wikipedia