History
The neighborhood of Mahane Yehuda was established in 1887 with 162 houses. It was founded by three business partners — Johannes Frutiger (a German Protestant and owner of the largest bank in Palestine), Shalom Konstrum, and Joseph Navon — and was named after Navon's brother, Yehuda. It abutted another new neighborhood, Beit Ya'akov, founded in 1885.
At the end of the 19th century, a marketplace was established between the two neighborhoods on an empty lot owned by the Sephardi Valero family; this market was known as Shuk Beit Yaakov (Beit Yaakov Market). Here Arab merchants and fellaheen sold their goods to the residents who lived outside the Old City. As the new neighborhoods outside the Old City grew, the Beit Yaakov Market grew apace with more stalls, tents and pavilions.
Under Ottoman rule, the market expanded haphazardly and sanitary conditions worsened. In the late 1920s, the British Mandate authorities cleared out all the merchants and built permanent stalls and roofing. Afterwards the market began to be known as the Mahane Yehuda Market, after the larger neighborhood.
In 1931 a new section was built to the west of the market by 20 traders, who previously had only temporary wooden stalls in the area. It was later named the Iraqi Market, as many traders of Iraqi Jewish descent acquired shops there. Today the Iraqi Market is located off Mahane Yehuda Street.
Read more about this topic: Mahane Yehuda Market
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