UNESCO Square

Roads at
junctionBen-Gurion Boulevard, HaGeffen Street

Typeroundabout

UNESCO Square for Tolerance and Peace
כיכר אונסק"ו לסובלנות ולשלום
Interactive map of UNESCO Square for Tolerance and Peace
Location
Haifa
Roads at junction	Ben-Gurion Boulevard, HaGeffen Street
Construction
Type	roundabout

UNESCO Square for Tolerance and Peace (Hebrew: כיכר אונסק"ו לסובלנות ולשלום, romanized: Kikar UNESCO LeSovlanut UleShalom; commonly referred to as UNESCO Square) is a roundabout located in the German Colony in Haifa, Israel. The square is situated at the base of the garden terraces around the Shrine of the Báb on Mount Carmel, at the intersection of Ben-Gurion Boulevard and HaGeffen Street, which leads to the Arab neighborhoods in Haifa's downtown. On its southern side lies the main entrance plaza to the Baháʼí Gardens, and on its northern side begins the German Colony promenade.

The square is named after UNESCO, the United Nations' educational, scientific and cultural organization. It was inaugurated on 9 December 2012, in honor of UNESCO's declaration of the Baháʼí Gardens in Haifa as a World Heritage Site on 8 July 2008,^[1] and in celebration of the local Holiday of Holidays festival^[a] held on the same date. The inauguration ceremony was attended by Haifa's mayor, Yona Yahav, and the Secretary-General of the worldwide Baháʼí community, Albert Lincoln.^[2] During the opening ceremony, dozens of white doves were released throughout the area.^[2] On 30 May 2011, a year and a half before the inauguration, a naming ceremony for the square took place, attended by UNESCO's Director-General, Irina Bokova.^[3]