(See the Introduction to the Region.) The prophet’s bones, brought to Haifa inj 1909, now lie next to the temple. Modest dress required. Take bus #22 from the] central bus station or bus #23, 25, 26, or 32 from HaNevi’im and Herzl St. to tha shrine. (Open 9am-noon, gardens open until 5pm. Free.) Other Baha’i buildings ard scattered around the grounds; the marbelous Universal House of Justice, completed in the late 1980s, is a living proof that Greek temple architecture is anything but) obsolete (visible from the Golomb-Ariozorov St. curve).

From the Baha’i shrine, buses #25 and 26 climb Mt. Carmel to the holy places oa the Carmelite Order, whose monastery stands on a promontory over Haifa Bay. A Latin monk named Rerthold founded the order in 1150. Persecution, which most] recently took the form of Napoleon’s siege and loss of Akko in 1799, forced the DisH calced (or “barefoot") Carmelite Order to move to the site of the cloister. Tha monks currently live in a relatively new church and monastery complex called Stella Maris (Star of the Sea), built in 1836 on the ruins of an ancient Byzantine1 chapel and a medieval Greek church. The church’s dome is crowned by paintings! depicting biblical prophets including Elijah flying in his chariot of fire, King David plucking his harp, and scenes of the Holy Family. An exquisite statuette of the Virgin Mary (with whom the order is associated) cradling the baby Jesus stands inside. Nq bare knees or shoulders permitted. (Tel- 52 34 60. Open daily 6am-l :30pm and 31 6pm.) Next to the Carmelite monastery is a small museum containing ruins ofl former Mt. Carmel cloisters dating from Byzantine and Crusader times. (Open dailjj 8:30am-l:30pm and 3-6pm. Free.) Take bus #25, 26, or 31.

Given the Carmelites’ affinity for Elijah, or Saint Elias, the Feast of St. Elias is a ten rific celebration. Christian Arabs set up booths for food and games, and the parTfl begins, culminating with special masses on the morning of the Feast (July 20).

Across the street from the monastery is the upper station of the cable car (rakh-bal) which runs down the northwestern slope of the Carmel. While the view from; the car is striking, the trip is short, and the prerecorded explanation of the view below (your choice of English or Hebrew) is rushed and uninformative. You call board the cars from either station. You can get to the bottom station by walking] west on HaHagana Blvd. from the centra! bus station for five minutes. There is A small walkway underneath the elevated train tracks on the right. From the trackSi walk one block down Rahaf St. and turn left onto Ha’AHya haShniya St. The cable cm station is several blocks down. Another approach is to take bus #42. The cable cafl nation is the last stop. (Tel. 33 59 70 or 33 00 09. Open Sat.-Thurs. 10am-6pm, Fri. l0affl-2pm. NIS7, round-trip NIS10.)

Opposite the lower cable car station-across the street and tracks-is the Clan- destine Immigration and Naval Museum, 204 Allenby Rd. (tel. 53 62 49). The museum explains the exploits behind the Ha’apala, the desperate smuggling of jfljffligrants into Israel during the British Mandate. Take bus #43 or 44: look for the AfAl-pi-Kben (In Spite Of), an old immigrant ship now perched atop the museum. (The ship’s gangway is lowered Sun.-Thurs. 9am-4pm, Fri.9am-lpm. Admission NIS5,studentsorunder 18 NIS2.)

Up the street at 198 Allenby, the National Maritime Museum (tel. 53 66 22) contains models of seafaring vessels from ancient times to the present, as well as other nautical exhibits. The prize exhibit is the bronze bowpiece from a 4th-century AD battleship discovered near Atlit in 1980. (Open Sun.-Thurs. 10am-4pm, Sat. 10am-lpm. Admission NIS5, Students NIS4. Free on Sat.)

The stairs leading to the entrance of Elijah’s Cave, 230 Allenby St. (tel. 52 74 30), are just across the street from the naval museum. Like so much of the Holy Land, all three of the country’s major faiths revere the spot. In the biblical history of the Israelites, the caves at the base of the mountain sheltered Elijah from the rage of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel after the prophet killed 450 priests of Ba’al at nearby Mukhraqa in the 9th century BC (I Kings 17-19). Muslims also revere Elijah as Al-Khadar, “the green prophet” of the same-colored mountains. Christians believe the caves safeguarded the Holy Family upon their return from Egypt. Believers of each faith now pray quietly in the dim light. Bus #45 runs to Edmund Fleg St. near the Carmelite Monastery above the caves. As you approach from the monastery, a difficult path leads down the mountainside beginning near the elbow in the road, across the street from the monastery entrance. Modest dress required. (Cave open Sun.-Thurs. 8am-4pm, Fri. 8am-12pm; winter Sun.-Thurs. 8am-6pm, Fri. 8am-lpm. Free.)

On Ha’Atzma’ut St. near Plumer Sq. downtown stands the Dagon Grain Silo and Archeological Museum (tel. 66 42 21), one of the most extraordinary’ granaries ever constructed. This curious edifice, the asymmetrical towers of which dominate Haifa’s waterfront, looks something like a modern Crusader fortress. The silo is Israel’s only grain-receiving depot, storing 90% of the country’s grain. A small archeological exhibit stands in the lobby of the silo’s tourist center, just east of the main building on Ha’Atzma’ut St. Take bus #10, 12, or 22. The exhibit and models of the silo’s facilities can be seen only when free tours are given (Sun.-Fri. at 10:30am or you can avoid the crowds and make an appointment).

Farther down Ha’Atzma’ut St. (note the once-elegant, early Modernist commercial buildings on the port side), near Faisal Square, is the Railway Museum (tel. 56 42 93). The old Haifa railroad station now houses a collection of train memorabilia and restored locomotives. (Open Sun., Tues., Thurs. 9am-noon.) East of the railway museum, the Shemen Edible Oil Factory is home to the Israeli Oil Industry Museum, 2 Tuvin St. (tel. 67 04 91), containing artifacts relating to the oil industry in Israel. (Open Sun.-Thurs. 8:30am-2:30pm.) Buses #17, 42, and 193 go to the Railway Museum; bus #2 goes to the Oil Museum. Ask the museum staff for wry Israeli jokes about how their country got the wrong kind of oil.