Dizengoff Street, Tel Aviv

Dizengoff Street in central Tel Aviv is one of the city’s most iconic streets. Originally described as the “Champs-Élysées of Tel Aviv”, Dizengoff Street declined after the 1970’s and the opening of Tel Aviv’s most significant shopping mall, the Dizengoff Center in the southern portion of the street. In recent years, however, Dizengoff Street has seen something of a revival, with cafes and restaurants, boutique clothes stores, and numerous design shops opening up.

About Dizengoff Street?

Dizengoff Street runs from Tel Aviv Port in the north, about 3km southwards, to its end at Ibn Gbirol Street, near Chen Boulevard and the Habima Cultural Center. The streets runs through the ‘Old North’ of the city, right into the ‘Lev Hair’ – the center of town. The street is named after Meir Dizengoff, the first mayor of Tel Aviv and was built during the 1920’s as part of the original urban development plan of Tel Aviv.

Dizengoff Street and those surrounding it, particularly in the southern half of the street, feature some of Tel Aviv’s iconic Bauhaus Buildings which have given Tel Aviv the nickname, the White City.

Dizengoff Square

Dizengoff Square with its famous fountain, ‘Fire and Water’ is one of the most iconic sights of Tel Aviv. The square sits above Dizengoff Street which passes underneath in an underpass. The square was built in 1934 and named for Zina Dizengoff, Meir Dizengoff’s wife.

The fountain which sits in the center of Dizengoff Square was designed by Yaacov Agam, one of the pioneers of the ‘kinetic art’ movement and opened in 1986. The fountain was fully restored in recent years having previously fallen into disrepair and is once again an icon of Tel Aviv.

Dizengoff Center

The Dizengoff Center is Tel Aviv’s first major shopping mall which opened gradually in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. Located at the junction of Dizengoff Street and King George Street, the Dizengoff Center features over 400 stores and is unique in design in that it is situated on both sides of Dizengoff Street, with bridges connecting the two malls. The Dizengoff Center houses many specialty stores as well as the regular stores found in every Israeli mall, a cinema, and a large parking lot.