wfn.org | Baha'i news: Work advances on restoration of Haifa's golden-domed shrine

[Sally Weeks <sweeks@bwc.org>]

>Baha'i World News Service
>http://news.bahai.org
>For more information, contact: news@bahai.org<mailto:news@bahai.org

Work advances on restoration of Haifa's golden-domed shrine

HAIFA, Israel, 23 April (BWNS) - With great care and patience, a dozen trus ted 
workers are going over the entire stone surface of Haifa's renowned Bah a'i 
shrine, mending and cleaning every spot that shows damage from half a c entury 
exposed to the elements.

The stone restoration of the burial place of the Bab - one of two divine Me 
ssengers associated with the Baha'i Faith - is only one part of a four-year  
project that is bringing the benefits of 21st century engineering and buil ding 
expertise to a structure whose first rooms were completed in 1909.

The initial phase of the work - structural reinforcement to increase resist 
ance to earthquakes - began in 2008 and is virtually finished.

"A new concealed steel structure, masonry reinforcements, and concrete work  
are largely complete," said Saeid Samadi, architect and manager for the pr 
oject. "The stone restoration should be finished by the end of the summer,  and 
other work is well under way."

In addition to stonework and structural reinforcement, the painstaking rest 
oration includes replacing the golden tiles on the dome, gilding anew the e 
lements that feature gold leaf, replacing the red floor tiles inside the sh 
rine, restoring the original ornamental balustrades, refurbishing the wood  and 
metal doors and windows, installing new electrical and environmental co ntrol 
systems, and waterproofing.

The entire project is scheduled for completion in April 2012, but the exter ior 
should be finished sooner, Mr. Samadi said. The refurbishing includes b oth the 
original one-story building that was completed a century ago and th e outside 
colonnade, superstructure, and golden dome that were finished in  1953.

"The expectation is that by early October 2011, when the Baha'i pilgrimage  
season begins, visitors will be able to see the shrine in its full beauty a nd 
grandeur," Mr. Samadi said. "At the moment much of the exterior of the b 
uilding is blocked from view."

In fact, extraordinary care has been taken to shield the restoration work f rom 
the public so that pilgrims and other visitors can continue to enter th e 
shrine for prayer and also experience the beauty and peacefulness of the  
gardens.

Access to the tomb itself is suspended only during three summer months when  no 
formal Baha'i pilgrimages are scheduled.

The Baha'i shrine on Mount Carmel is one of the most visited sites in the H oly 
Land. The building, overlooking Haifa Bay and the Mediterranean Sea, is  known 
for its beauty and for the adjacent gardens that stretch up and down  the 
mountain.

In 2008, the Shrine of Baha'u'llah north of Haifa, near Acre, and the Shrin e 
of the Bab on Mount Carmel were chosen for the UNESCO World Heritage list , 
sites of "outstanding universal value" that should be considered part of  the 
"cultural heritage of humanity."

The restoration work will not result in any change in the design or general  
appearance of the Shrine of the Bab.

To read a longer version of the article and view the photographs, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/story/768

For the Baha'i World News Service home page, go to:
http://news.bahai.org/