A fountain that screwed up

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The water has been turned off in many beautiful fountains in drought-stricken Israel.
But for this fountain in Jerusalem's Safra Square, it's especially sad because the Archimedes' screw is, after all, a way to raise water from one level to another.

Here is an old Archimedes' screw that was actually used in agriculture years ago.
The now-rusty handle was once turned by hand.
It's on display with other old tools in Sergei Courtyard in the Russian Compound.
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This post is for both the weekly meme That's My World and the monthly City Daily Photo Theme Day.  The Februay 1 theme is fountains. Click here to view thumbnails for all participants
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Russian bridge to a WC in Jerusalem

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Will this qualify for Louis la Vache's Sunday Bridges, you think?
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Here's the story as told by Aviva Bar-Am in The Jerusalem Post:

"Russian pilgrims began visiting the Holy Land en masse in the middle of the 19th century.
To provide for their needs, several hostels were constructed inside the Russian Compound within walking distance of the Old City's holy sites.

But none of these hostels was fancy enough to house the Russian aristocracy.

The nobility preferred the elegance of Beit Sergei, built in 1890 on the initiative of Prince Sergei Alexandrovitch, brother of the ruling czar.

The complex included stately visitors' rooms, bathrooms and showers, dining rooms and cisterns.
The first floor was the service area, with a reception hall, kitchen and other rooms.
On the second floor were 25 rooms, half of which were fairly plain and the other half elaborately furnished with Persian rugs, silk wall hangings, plaster sculptures and brocade curtains.

On weekdays, you can walk inside to view two squat towers within the courtyard that held the bathrooms; indeed, bridges leading to the upper stories are still in place."
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And today, 120 years later, the public toilet is located in the bottom of one tower!
It is one of my favorites, always clean and with TP. : )
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(More pictures of Sergei's Courtyard here, here, and here.)

Russian reflections

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Here is one of the towers of the old (19th century) Russian pilgrim hostel reflected in the fountain in Sergei's Courtyard.

Even the upper "bowl" had the reflection, and fish as a bonus.

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All for James' Weekend Reflections.

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More cisterns

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The lively kitten in the flowerpot was playing hide-and-seek with a litter-mate.
She is my contribution to Camera Critters meme today. However, the other photos are in response to the many readers who got excited about cisterns in new Jerusalem in yesterday's post.

Jews began moving out of the overcrowded walled Old City in 1860, when the first Jewish neighborhood in new Jerusalem was built. Many of the new houses where built around a courtyard which could be locked at night for better protection. Robber bands and wild animals were a danger then, outside the city wall.

Big cisterns were built underground.

Today the openings into the cisterns are plastered shut or locked. Some pumps have become quite decorative.

The three photos above (which are clickable, as usual) show the courtyard of the late Rabbi Kook's yeshiva and of the Museum of Psalms.

The slight curve signals the vault of a cistern below the street.

The two photos above are from the old neighborhood of Nachlaot.

The complex of city center neighborhoods, officially known as Lev Ha-Ir (meaning the heart of the city), was declared an area to be conserved. The are quite charming now.

Can you imagine the hardworking mothers who once gathered here draw water and to wash the laundry and exchange the latest news?

A courtyard of one of the many the ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods near the market. Often all the houses surrounding the courtyard made up one little "neighborhood," with a name of its own.

They have big families. With all the little kids playing outside, the openings to the deep cisterns are today carefully blocked.

The beautiful cistern roof in Sergei Courtyard!

The building houses the Jerusalem branch of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.

As we said yesterday, the SPNI is campaigning to have City Hall allow the re-opening of some of Jerusalem's 11,000 cisterns so that rainwater can be caught and held and used, instead of going down the drain.

After five straight years of drought, we need to conserve any rain that might come.

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Finally, pretty benches!

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While in downtown Jerusalem this morning for a vision test (to renew my Arkansas driver's license), I was near the Sergei Courtyard and decided to step inside and photograph the old agricultural installations on display.

What a surprise to find the olive presses and grindstones covered with old clothes!
Apparently is was Chofshi-shishi, sort of a Free Friday that happens every few months. You can bring your shmates and used books to give away or you can just take stuff you need for free.

Well, since the agricultural implements were not photographable, I went in search of benches to show Rune at Visual Norway and the other Bench of the Week friends.
Look at these beauties!
I never realized we had any unusual benches in Jerusalem until this mini-meme opened my eyes and made me search for them.

Complete with a pergola and what looks like a stylized cross above.
The Sergei Hostel was built in 1890 for Christian pilgrims from Russia.

But if I understand the sign correctly, the Jewish benches are a rather new addition.

The view from the garden benches is a fountain with lily pads.

I went home happy with the surprise photos (and also with a little bag of free clothes). :D

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Shabbat shalom, friends.

W in Sergei Courtyard

The Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel has their Jerusalem office in the lovely 1890 Sergei Building. Their courtyard has treasures like these below to show how WORK was done in olden days.

Watering trough cut into a Crusader ashlar.
Winnowing fork and threshing board.
Windlass to draw water from the well.
Well borders with grooves cut by ropes used in drawing water.