On Haifa's Mount Carmel stands the Baha'i shrine, whose golden dome dominates the city. The shrine is surrounded by beautiful carefully manicured Persian Gardens, and is also the location of the Universal House of Justice of the Baha'i religion.
The Baha'i faith is based upon a doctrine of tolerance and equality. It was founded by a Persian named Mirza Ali Mohammed, who declared himself the Bab, the "Gateway" to God, in 1844. Later, in 1850, he was shot in Tabriz-north Iran. His successor Mirza Hussein Ali, called himself Baha-u-Illah, fled to the Ottoman Empire, where he proclaimed himself as the Imam in 1868.
He died, in 1892, in Akko after being held in captivity for 24 years by the Ottomans and was buried near today's kibbutz Shamerat, north of Akko. The followers secretly brought the remains of Mirza Ali Mohammed, from Persia to Haifa where in 1909 built his tomb. The monumental dome over the tomb was completed in 1953.
On Haifa's Mount Carmel stands the Baha'i shrine, whose golden dome dominates the city. The shrine is surrounded by beautiful carefully manicured Persian Gardens, and is also the location of the Universal House of Justice of the Baha'i religion.