Sights

Herzliya Pituah offers a few sights worth seeing in addition to the beach and Sydne Ali mosque. The beautiful Nof Yam Beach Lies lkm north of Herzliya Pituah s hotel-lined main beach, just beyond the dilapidated Sydne Ali mosque. To reach the beach entrance from DeShalit Square, walk north along Galei Tekhelet St. to Golda Meir St. Turn left at the blue sign with a diagram of a sailboat. The mosque and beach are straight ahead. For a more scenic and adventurous route, walk north along Galei Tekhelet St. and turn left onto the dirt path between the residences of the Canadian and American embassies; look for the flags. Continue north along the cliffs and turn left onto the road in front of the mosque.

Perched on a ledge 100m north of the entrance to Nof Yam Beach is an inhabited sandcastle known as the Hermit’s House. Part of it looks [ike a boat over which a peacock has spread its fan, part like a gargoyle, and the rest like nothing you’ve ever seen. Nissim Kakhalon has been building this fantastic structure for the past 24 years with natural sea materials as well as tires, bottles, broken plates, and other debris that washes ashore. Peevish Israeli authorities have so far been unable to oust him. Look for his latest inspired addition, the “sand bar” snack stand, featuring cold drinks and hummus on homemade pita (NIS5) served on a covered veranda. If you can find him, he might be persuaded to give you a tour of his architectural creations and the network of tunnels which he dug to connect them. He may even take you past his henhouse/peacock pen. Plans are in the works for a school to teach people “how to make things.”

On the cliffs above the beach, a few hundred meters farther north, are the barely discernible ruins of Apollonia, a Roman port fortified by medieval Crusaders. Huge chunks of the Crusaders’ walls fell from the cliffs when the city was destroyed, and more fell in the winter of 1991-92 due to exceptionally heavy rains. The pieces lie half-submerged along the beach. For a better view of these crumbling ruins, take the road east from the beach entrance and turn left onto the road past the mosque. Continue down this road and turn left onto the dirt path leading past the entrance gate of a school. Don’t venture too close to the nearby ammunition factor}7, which is surrounded by barbed wire. Don’t expect a sign or plaque, either.