Fodor's Expert Review Montefiore's Windmill

This limestone, wind-driven flour mill was built by Sir Moses Montefiore in 1857 to provide a source of income for his planned neighborhood of Mishkenot Sha'ananim, the first outside the city walls. Its usefulness was cut short when steam mills made their appearance; but in 2012, with Dutch and English expertise, the landmark windmill was restored to working order.

Montefiore was a prominent figure in the financial circles of mid-19th-century London—a rare phenomenon for a Jew at the time. He married into the legendary Rothschild family, becoming the stockbroker of its London branch, and retired early. The larger-than-life philanthropist devoted much of his long life, and his wealth, to aiding fellow Jews in distress, wherever they might be. To this end he visited Ottoman Palestine seven times. A replica of the carriage that conveyed him around the country is behind thick glass: vandals torched its predecessor.