Terraces (Baháʼí)

The Baháʼí World Centre is the name given to the spiritual and administrative centre of the Baháʼí Faith, representing sites in or near the cities of Acre and Haifa, Israel. Much of the international governance and coordination of the Baháʼí Faith occurs at the Baháʼí World Centre, including global teaching plans and study and translation of the Baháʼí holy writings. The Universal House of Justice, representing the supreme governing body of the Baháʼí Faith, resides in Haifa. The Baháʼí World Centre is also a major destination for religious tourism, and the current destination for Baháʼí pilgrimage, attracting annually about one million visitors.The location of the Baháʼí World Centre originated in Baháʼu'lláh's banishment and imprisonment to the fortress of Acre in 1868 by Ottoman authorities.Many of the locations at the Baháʼí World Centre, including the terraces and the Shrine of the Báb which constitute the north slope of Mount Carmel, were inscribed on the World Heritage List in July 2008.

Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum (born Mary Sutherland Maxwell; 8 August 1910 – 19 January 2000) was an American-born Canadian Hand of the Cause of the Baháʼí Faith. She was the wife of the Ottoman-born Iranian religious figure Shoghi Effendi, who succeeded his grandfather ʻAbdu'l-Bahá to become the Guardian of the Baháʼí Faith between 1921 and 1957. Appointed as a Hand of the Cause in 1952, her primary responsibility was to expand and protect the global Baháʼí community. In this capacity, she was among the leading Hands of the Cause who, following Effendi's death in 1957, took on the role of ensuring the transfer of the religion's supreme legal authority to the Universal House of Justice, which has governed out of Haifa, Israel, since 1963. Khánum was born to Canadian architect William Sutherland Maxwell and American spiritualist Mary Ellis Bolles, both Christians who later became Baháʼís. As an adolescent, she embarked on two pilgrimages to Haifa's Baháʼí World Centre, where she first met Effendi, whom she would marry in 1937. Owing to the fact that Effendi died without having any children, she was regarded by many Baháʼís as the last remaining link to his great-grandfather Baháʼu'lláh, who founded the Baháʼí Faith in Iran and the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century. For much of the latter half of her life, Khánum actively ventured throughout many parts of South America, sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands, where she worked to establish and develop local Baháʼí communities. During this time, she published a number of books and documentaries, and was also officially received by the United Nations and many countries' governments. In 2004, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation placed her at number 44 on the voters' list of "greatest Canadians" for the television series The Greatest Canadian. At the age of 89, Khánum died in Haifa and was laid to rest at the Baháʼí World Centre in the city.

The Shrine of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá is the location in Israel wherein the remains of ʻAbdu'l-Bahá, one of the central figures of the Baháʼí Faith, will be interred. Since his death in 1921, ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's remains have been located in one of the rooms of the Shrine of the Báb in Haifa, Israel.

The Baháʼí World Centre buildings are buildings that are part of the Baháʼí World Centre in Israel. The Baháʼí World Centre buildings include both the Baháʼí holy places used for pilgrimage and the international administrative bodies of the Baháʼí Faith; they comprise more than 20 different administrative offices, pilgrim buildings, libraries, archives, historical residences, and shrines. These structures are all set amidst more than 30 different gardens or individual terraces. The buildings themselves are located in Haifa, Acre, and Bahjí, Israel. The location of the Baháʼí World Centre buildings has its roots in Baháʼu'lláh's imprisonment in Acre, which is near Haifa, by the Ottoman Empire during the period of Ottoman rule over Palestine, now Israel. Many Baháʼí holy places in Haifa and around Acre, including the terraces and the Shrine of the Báb on the north slope on Mount Carmel, and the Shrine of Baháʼu'lláh, the Mansion of Bahji, and the Mansion at Mazra'ih were inscribed on the World Heritage List in July 2008. The Baháʼí shrines "are the first sites connected with a relatively new religious tradition to be recognized by the World Heritage List." The UNESCO World Heritage Committee considers the sites to be "of outstanding universal value [and]...inscribed for the testimony they provide to the Baháʼí's strong tradition of pilgrimage and for their profound meaning for the faith."

The Universal House of Justice (Persian: بیت‌العدل اعظم) is the nine-member supreme ruling body of the Baháʼí Faith. It was envisioned by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith, as an institution that could legislate on issues not already addressed in the Baháʼí writings, providing flexibility for the Baháʼí Faith to adapt to changing conditions. It was first elected in 1963, and subsequently every five years, by delegates consisting of the members of Baháʼí National Spiritual Assemblies throughout the world. The Universal House of Justice, as the head of the religion, has provided direction to the worldwide Baháʼí community primarily through a series of multi-year plans, as well as through annual messages delivered during the Ridván festival. The messages have focused on increasing the number of Local Spiritual Assemblies, translating Baháʼí literature, establishing Baháʼí Centres, completing Baháʼí Houses of Worship, holding international conferences, and developing educational systems to enhance literacy, the role of women, spirituality for children and youth, family life, social and economic development, and communal worship. The Universal House of Justice has also played a role in responding to systemic persecution of Baháʼís in Iran by garnering worldwide media attention. The books and documents published by the Universal House of Justice are considered authoritative and its legislative decisions are considered infallible by Baháʼís. Although it is empowered to legislate on matters that are not addressed in the Baha'i holy writings, the Universal House of Justice has rarely exercised this function. The Seat of the Universal House of Justice and its members reside in Haifa, Israel, on the slope of Mount Carmel. The most recent election was 29 April 2018. Although all other elected and appointed roles in the Baháʼí Faith are open to men and women, membership on the Universal House of Justice is male-only; the Baháʼí writings indicate that the reason for this will become clear in the future.

Abbas (Hebrew: עבאס) is a neighborhood in the city of Haifa in northern Israel. It is located in the administrative region of Hadar, on the edge of the Mount Carmel.

The International Teaching Centre (ITC; Persian: دارالتبلیغ بین‌المللی) is a Baháʼí institution based in the Baháʼí World Centre in Haifa, Israel. Its duties are to stimulate and coordinate the Continental Board of Counselors and assist the Universal House of Justice in matters relating to the teaching and protection of the faith. The duties of the International Teaching Centre include coordinating, stimulating, and directing the activities of the Continental Boards of Counsellors and acting as liaison between them and the Universal House of Justice.

The Battle of Haifa was fought on 23 September 1918 towards the end of the Battle of Sharon which together with the Battle of Nablus formed the set piece Battle of Megiddo fought between 19 and 25 September during the last months of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign of the First World War. During the Battle of Haifa, the Indian 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade, 5th Cavalry Division and part of the Desert Mounted Corps attacked rearguard forces of the Ottoman Empire that resulted in the capture of the towns of Haifa and Acre. This attack took place at the north western edge of the Esdraelon Plain (also known as the Jezreel Valley and the plain of Armageddon) 40–50 miles (64–80 km) behind the front line in the Judean Hills after the Desert Mounted Corps had occupied the plain, during the cavalry phase of the Battle of Sharon. The Battle of Megiddo had begun with an attack by British Empire infantry along an almost continuous line from the Mediterranean Sea across the Plain of Sharon into the foothills of the Judean Hills. They attacked the Ottoman front line and captured the headquarters of the Ottoman Eighth Army at Tulkarm, the trenches at Tabsor and pivoted at Arara. The Eighth Army was outflanked on the coast and British Empire cavalry moved north through the gap created. The Desert Mounted Corps almost encircled the infantry in the Judean Hills capturing their main lines of supply, communications and retreat. By 25 September, one Ottoman army had been destroyed, and what remained of two others, were in retreat northwards to Damascus. The 5th Cavalry Division was assigned the task of capturing Haifa and Acre after several earlier attempts were stopped by strong rearguard positions. A squadron from the Mysore Lancers, and a squadron from the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, 15th (Imperial Service) Cavalry Brigade formed the initial attack on an Austrian artillery battery before moving forward with the Jodhpur Lancers and a light car patrol, to attack the main German rearguard position and capture the town. This day of 23 September every year is celebrated as Haifa Day.

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Haifa, Israel.

The Tikotin Museum of Japanese Art is a museum on the crest of Mount Carmel, in Haifa, Israel, dedicated to the preservation and exhibition of Japanese art. It is the only such museum in the Middle East. It was established in 1959 on the initiative of Felix Tikotin of the Netherlands, and Abba Hushi, then mayor of Haifa.

The German Colony (HaMoshava HaGermanit) (Hebrew: המושבה הגרמנית, Arabic: المستعمرة الألمانية) was established in Ottoman Haifa in 1868 as a German Templer Colony in Palestine. It was the first of several colonies established by the group in the Holy Land. Others were founded in Sarona near Jaffa, Galilee and Jerusalem.

The NB Haifa School of Design, named after Neri Bloomfield and formerly WIZO Canada, is a college of art located in the German Colony in downtown Haifa, Israel. It is the leading professional and academic institution for higher education in art in northern Israel. The academy's president is Dr David Alexander.