The Ilana Goor Museum is an art museum located in Old Jaffa. In addition, the museum was founded in 1995 by the artist, designer, and sculptor Ilana Goor. Furthermore, the museum consists of Goor’s works alongside an art collection of over 500 works, by international artists alongside Israelis and all types of arts. The museum also serves as Goor’s private home which is open to visitors and thus provides a unique historical, artistic, and functional home experience. One of the purposes of the museum is to develop into an interdisciplinary artistic discourse and to bring the audience closer to Israeli-contemporary art.
The museum building was established as the first Jewish khan in 1742, by wealthy Jew, Jacob Zonana. Its original use of the building was as a guest house for pilgrims who came by sea and stopped there several days before continuing on their way to Jerusalem. The building has three floors. Its massive walls correspond to the characteristic architecture of the period, and to the function for which it was intended: beyond being a staging post for the immigrants; it also served as a refuge from bandits roaming outside the Old City walls. In the second half of the 19th century, the building served as a factory for the production of soaps and cosmetics based on olive oil, run by an established Muslim family.
After the War of Independence, new Jewish immigrants from the Balkans settled in Old Jaffa. the Immigrants lived in the building in difficult sanitary conditions, without a regular supply of electricity and water. From 1949, the building also served in part as a synagogue for the Libyan Jewish community.
