GARDENS DUBBED "EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD" OPEN IN ISRAEL

On May 22nd in the port city of Haifa, a magnificent series of gardened terraces on Mount Carmel will open to the public for the first time. The gardens extend almost half a mile up the mountainside, creating a haven of leafy peace and tranquillity in a busy Israeli city. They frame the golden-domed burial house of the Báb, the forerunner of the founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah. The Shrine of the Báb opened in 1953, and has been unofficially adopted as the symbol of the city of Haifa. Delegations of Baha'is from every country on earth, including the United Kingdom, will attend the opening of the majestic gardens, designed to beautify what has been known since ancient times as "the Mountain of the Lord". The multi-million pound project was entirely funded by Baha'is all over the world, as a symbol of hope for unity and peace between all peoples. Plants and shrubs from many countries have been incorporated in the gardens' design, together with cool marble fountains and benches.

The project also includes a series of administrative buildings on Mount Carmel, housing the international governing council of the world Baha'i community.

Heather Freedland, of the Israel Government Tourist Office in London, said the terraced gardens will be a welcome addition to Israel's other great spiritual monuments.

"They are so peaceful to visit, they really uplift the soul - and it's a great contrast to the bustle of Haifa," Ms Freedland said.

As far back as 1600 BC, Mount Carmel was mentioned as a "holy mountain" in Egyptian records. In the Bible, it is the site of Elijah's confrontation with the worshippers of Baal.

"Mount Carmel and Elijah have a very important place in both the Christian and Jewish traditions," said Moshe Sharon, a professor of Middle East Studies who holds the Chair of Baha'i Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "There are hundreds of traditions and stories connected with Mount Carmel, which give it a unique place in more than one religious tradition."

For Baha'is, the mountain was given great significance when Baha'u'llah visited it en route to the prison city of Akka where he passed away in 1892.

Barney Leith, secretary-general of the UK Baha'i community, said: "For Baha'is, the completion of the Mount Carmel buildings and gardens marks the realisation of a century-long dream to create a spiritual and administrative center, commensurate with the beauty of the Baha'i teachings, that will fully and fittingly represent the Faith's position as an independent world religion, now the second-most widespread geographically after Christianity.

"And for the world at large, the diversity and harmony of the gardens are a glimpse of the type of world that Baha'is are working for - one that expresses in its harmonious blend of architectural and horticultural styles the principle of unity in diversity, and emphasises in its beauty the precedence of spiritual values over materialism, and, in its open invitation to all, embraces all peoples and cultures."

Ma'ariv, Israel's second-largest newspaper, has dubbed the project "the eighth wonder of the world".

After May 2001, the gardens will be open to people of all religious beliefs, background and ationalities.