The dreamy city of Ashdod in Israel is one of the country’s biggest cities, comfortably located on the Mediterranean coast. It hosts a diverse population of around 235,000 inhabitants in 2016, making it the country’s 6th largest city. Also, Ashdod is Israel’s most essential and second-biggest seaport after Haifa. The history of Ashdod began in Biblical times when the Philistines inhabited it. And today in the city there are still some traces of the ancient settlement.
The Modern Dreamy City of Ashdod In Israel
Today in Ashdod most of the residents are Jewish (around 95%). The rest of the population is partly Jewish as a result of mixed marriages. The city is also home of Jewish people from Morocco, Georgia and Ethiopia.
In Ashdod, you can find a wide variety of natural landscapes. Such surprising diversity is because the city is a kind of meeting point of the green lowland (on the East), the yellow sand dunes (on the South) and the Mediterranean Sea (on the West).
Modern Ashdod is a pretty young city. Another foundation of the city of Ashdod happened again more than 60 years ago, and its rapid growth began around two decades ago. It has a well-planned and developed infrastructure. Ashdod is among the leading cities in different industries, such as tourism. Also because its beaches are stunning.
Isdud – history of Ashdod
The modern city of Ashdod was built on the site where the Palestinian village of Isdud was previously located. Just before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the town of Isdud was under the control of the Egyptian armed forces. But on October 28, 1948, the Egyptian army was forced to retreat and left Isdud to the Israelis.
Foundation of the City
In 1956 Israel’s finance minister Levi Eshkol announced the foundation of the modern city of Ashdod. The first Ashdod settlers were small groups of Jews from Morocco and Egypt. In 1957 the Ashdod Company Ltd. was granted a 24 km² concession to build the city. And the inauguration of the Port of Ashdod happened in 1963. Two years later, the biggest cargo port in Israel was operational for the first time.
The Development Of Dreamy City of Ashdod In Israel
Surveyors and designers divided Ashdod into seventeen neighbourhoods split in broad avenues. According to the main development plan, each district has its own social infrastructure. In the northern part of Ashdod, there had also been the erection of three industrial zones.
The Ashdod city can host a population of 250,000 inhabitants. In the southern part, there is also an additional territory for further city developments. However, today this area belongs to the Ashdod Nitzanim Sand Dune Park, a national nature reserve.
