We have been working for a few years to solve an unusual problem in Israel are in progress, with the first constructions ready to be delivered to the public from next October.
The reason for the lack of places in the cemeteries of Jerusalem, which is called to be addressed through the creation of underground catacombs. With incineration unusual in Israel and current estimates of 4.400 new graves a year, the underground "city of the dead" in Jerusalem seemed the only and most ideal solution.
Both the scarce land of Israel and the Muslim and Jewish burial customs for burying the dead and forbidding cremation made it necessary to establish this necropolis, which would provide a solution to the problem of Israel. for the next twenty-five years.
The underground "city of the dead" will consist of a total of 22.000 tombs, with the first 8.000 being ready to be delivered to the public in October 2019 and the rest of its units in the coming years. The cost of the project is estimated at $ 50 million, while it has been financed in some way by the pre-sale of the burial plots, mainly to Jews, while it will also be free for the Israelis.
The future necropolis, the first underground cemetery
On the outskirts of Jerusalem and under a mountain, where the Har Hamenuchot Cemetery is located - the largest in Israel - overlooking the road leading from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, for three years now countless workers have been working tirelessly to create the future necropolis, the first underground cemetery.
This modern burial solution actually includes a return to the ancient practice of underground burial from biblical times and early Christianity. According to the company that undertook the design of the project, "the underground cemeteries maintain the basic belief of the reconnection of man with the earth".
The aim of the project is to create 22.000 places for the dead in Israel, as it seems to be "running out" of cemeteries. In essence, then, it is the most modernized version of the underground crypts, a fairly common practice in ancient societies from Biblical times and early Christianity.
At a depth of 45 meters below the Mount of Rest, special drilling teams dug and worked for just three years, in order to complete this unique "city of the dead". Access to the "lower" world will be via a 50-meter lift, while the first 8.000 seats will be ready to be delivered to the public next October. It is estimated, in fact, that once the project is completed about 300.000 cubic meters of rock and debris will have been removed from the mountain.
The architecture and layout of the cemetery of the future
The source of inspiration for this project was both their custom Jewish regarding the burial burials, as well as the findings found in areas around the Holy Land, on rocky slopes near Jerusalem and near Haifa.
More specifically, the basic plan on which this necropolis was based is influenced by the Beit Shearim cemetery. These are catacombs dating between the 2nd and 4th century and have been recognized by the United Nations as a World Heritage Site in 2015.
The huge tunnels 800 meters long below the hillside, therefore, consist of a "grid" of three "avenues" and seven "streets". Looking, in the center of the "grid", an imposing axis ascends to the "upper" world.
According to a Guardian article, its main axis necropolis will consist of 3.000 tombs, which can rise to the surface of the earth, through the creation of a special elevator. The entire site - built for Chevra Kadisha, one of Jerusalem's largest burial communities - will be accessible by electric golf carts, while a small museum on the ground floor will feature archeological artifacts related to Jewish burial traditions.
The modern necropolis of Jerusalem is the "spiritual child" of Arik Glazer, CEO of Rolzur Tunneling, a company that specializes in more conventional projects such as freeway tunnels.
According to him, "In the cemetery above the new project there are about 200.000 graves, which have not yet been exhausted. However, what we all have to admit is the growing lack of space, and another cemetery in Jerusalem, the one on the Mount of Olives, in the eastern part of the city, is almost full. "
As Glazer characteristically told the Guardian, "the idea for modern catacombs came from the desire to use the space in an innovative way and to reduce as much as possible the environmental impact of landfilling."
Characteristic is the fact that tunnels of the modern necropolis of Jerusalem occupy only 5% of the total underground area on the mountain where it is located and available for future tombs.
In fact, despite the hesitations expressed upon hearing of the project, the pro-Orthodox Israeli burial societies seem to have embraced the idea as the most effective solution to the problem of burying dead, at a time when the largest urban cemeteries are almost full.