Haifa, facing Akko on the southern end of the bay, speaks of modernity. During the mandate, the British built the large port that in the space of a few years transformed a small fishing village into an industrial and trading city thus making Haifa the gate to the Mediterranean. Today it is a mosaic of peoples and architectural forms. It is multiethnic. Secular, though capable of welcoming adepts of new religions like the Baha’i, who, by building their sanctuary there, made so bold as to alter the skyline of the city. Today futurist-looking buildings stand alongside ancient minarets and Ottoman towers. The downtown area lives on obstinately, and some of its Arab quarters, having survived waves of demolition and renovation, are still fascinatingly vibrant. Everything seems able to coexist in Haifa, a city far removed from the religious and political impulses that animate Jerusalem. It is a youthful, nocturnal city, where Muslim, Jewish and Christian influences blend in with each other in a surprisingly shoulder-to-shoulder pattern of everyday life.