Red clay tiles waiting

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It is just speculation on my part, but it seems that red tile roofs are a status symbol in Israel. 

This was my first time to see such a roof in its "becoming" stage. 
The clay tiles were in neat little stacks, just waiting for Shabbat to be over so the roofer could start to lay them. 

A whole new neighborhood is being built in my town in the Negev. 
You can see here that the street and houses are still under construction.  (With two clicks you can open the photos to full size and see better what I men.)
(My neighborhood is up behind those trees on the hill; it was the first part of Meitar to be built, in 1984.)
Almost all the new houses have flat roofs, except for these two here in the photo with the sloping roofs. 
The red one sticks out like a . . . like a status symbol. ;-)
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UPDATE: Just found this article in Haaretz:
"The rise and fall of the red roof: Israel's white picket fence."
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Something NEW over the Holy Sepulchre??

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Sometime this year a big roof awning went up over (what looks like) part of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

I can't believe that this got past the old Status Quo agreements about the church.
You see the ladder under the window on the left, for instance?
It was placed on a ledge over the entrance sometime in the 19th century has remained there ever since because of a dispute over who has the authority to take it down.

Does anyone know who put up the awning and why?
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UPDATE: I think I found a lead. See Sept. 10 post.
UPDATE 2: Someone here told me the roof-thing is not quite over the Holy Sepulchre, which makes sense, considering the strength of the status quo.
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BEST UPDATE!: The answer to the mystery is from Tom Powers!
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Rooftop sky watching

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Just two days ago the sky was still all happy blue and white, perfect for SkyWatch.
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If you climb up to the rooftops of Jerusalem's Old City, you may feel as if suspended between heaven and earth, between distant past and tenuous present.
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A few residents know how to traverse the whole walled city via the roofs, so I hear.
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From here where the four quarters of the Old City intersect, you look down to the Temple Mount and the golden roof of the Muslim Dome of the Rock and past it to the Mount of Olives in the east.
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Turn north and there are the two black domes and the belltower of the Holy Sepulchre, just behind the minaret of a mosque.
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Through a seriously-spikey fence, the belltower and dome of the Lutheran Church of the Redeemer and freely-floating white clouds are visible.

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Shalom, peace, to Jerusalem and shalom to you.

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Italian tiles on a Russian roof in Ein Kerem

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So many of you liked the Gornensky Convent that I give you more today.
Please see yesterday's comments for answers to questions raised.
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Enlarge and see that the cathedral's domes were still black in 2007.
You can see the perimeter walls that circle the huge Russian complex.
All those tall dark cypress trees are on the convent grounds.
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April 2009--scaffolding all around and the cathedral domes were plated with gold-colored metal. (Not sure what it is exactly.)
Photo snapped from the bus I take to go into Jerusalem, seen on top of the hill.
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From inside Gornensky, you see the village of Ein Kerem (now part of Jerusalem) nestled in the valley of the Jerusalem Hills.
The top of the ridge on the far horizon is already the West Bank.
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When I visited the convent in October they were building some small new building.
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Italian bloggers especially, enlarge the photo and read the fine print!
Those are stacks of Territalia terracotta roof tiles. Their website says they export a lot of them to the Middle East.
The Cunial family has been making tiles for 120 years and they now produce 25 million tiles per year.
Don't you love that logo of a tortoise with a shingled shell?
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"Make a parapet for your roof"

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Even nights are hot in Jerusalem this week.
 IF my roof were flat, I would prefer to sleep on it instead of in the warm house.
In Biblical days the flat house roofs were like an outdoor room, used for many tasks, including sleeping.
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So the Bible, in Deuteronomy 22:8, gave us a good "building code":

"When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof, so that you will not bring bloodguilt on your house if anyone falls from it."

In Jerusalem we still take that law seriously. Here are some examples of parapets:

David's Village, Mamilla

In Romema

Mamilla Hotel

An old synagogue being repaired in Nachlaot

Israel Broadcasting Authority building (formerly Shaarei Zedek Hospital)

In a very Orthodox neighborhood

Shikun HaRabbanim in Romema

An old hotel near Jaffa Gate, Old City

Apartments over the bastot stalls of Mahaneh Yehuda market

Christian Information Center near Jaffa Gate, Old City

St. Vincent de Paul hospice, Mamilla
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I hope you enjoyed your roof tour for That's My World Tuesday. Shalom!

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