Zikhron Ya'akov

also spelled Zichron Yaakov.

Zichron Yaakov was founded in 1882 by 100 Romanian pioneers, members of the Hovevei Zion movement, who purchased a tract of land in a place known in Arabic as Zammarin.
In the following year, the village came under the patronage of Baron Edmond de Rothschild, who named it Zichron Yaakov - “Memory of Jacob” - after his father, James de Rothschild.
Viticulture was introduced as a primary agricultural sector and in 1885 Rothschild helped to establish the first winery in Israel, Carmel-Mizrachi Winery.
Baron Edmund de Rothschild built in 1886 the synagogue Ohel Ya’akov, or Jacob’s Tent, also named for his father. On the Hameyasdim Street he built Zichron’s first water tower, called Brichat Binyamin, or Benjamin’s Well, the structure’s facade is designed in the style of a synagogue.

Zikhron Ya’akov was an important center of the secret Nili intelligence organization. A Jewish espionage network volunteered to spy on Ottoman positions and report them to British agents offshore in the Land of Israel during World War I.
The economy of Zichron Yaakov is based on farming (mainly vineyards; two wineries: the Carmel-Mizrachi Winery and the Tishbi Winery), industry, tourism and recreation.
South of Zichron Yaakov (on the road to Binyamina, Route 652) are the Ramat Hanadiv Memorial Gardens, they include the formal Rose, Palm, Cascade and Fragrance gardens. The gardens were established to perpetuate the memory of Baron Edmond de Rothschild (1845-1934), known as “Hanadiv Hayadua” (the Well-known Benefactor) and his wife Adelheid de Rothschild (1853-1934).
In 1954 their remains were transferred to a Mausoleum in the gardens.