Timemap - Tel Aviv & Haifa Venue History

Search historical entertainment, nightlife, and culture venues in Tel Aviv-Yafo and Haifa from timemap.co.il - a community-curated database mapping bars, cafes, clubs, cinemas, food venues, and performance spaces throughout the cities' history.

Data from timemap.co.il, a non-profit project by Reut Miryam Cohen and Amir Ozer - "a loving tribute to the places and people that made the cities we grew up in." Venues include opening/closing dates, locations, tags, user memories, and photos. This skill is an unofficial CLI wrapper.

Quick Start

# Search for a venue (Hebrew or English)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py search "רוטשילד"
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py search "Barby"

# See what was active in a specific year
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py timeline 2010

# Get database statistics
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py stats

Commands

Command	Description
search <query>	Search venues by name or address (Hebrew or English)
filter	Filter by --city, --tags, --year, --active-in, --opened, --closed
venue <id>	Get full details for a specific venue (by ID or name)
timeline <year>	Show all venues that were active in a given year
nearby <lat> <lng>	Find venues near coordinates (--radius in km, default 0.5)
tags [tag]	List all tags, or show venues with a specific tag
cities	List cities with venue counts
stats	Database statistics (venues by city, tag, decade, status)
memories <id>	Show user memories for a specific venue
random	Pick a random venue (prefers ones with memories/photos)

Search Examples

# Search by name (Hebrew or English)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py search "טדי"
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py search "Barby"

# Search by address
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py search "רוטשילד"
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py search "דיזנגוף"

# Get full details for a venue
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py venue 192

# Find venues with user memories
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py memories 253

Filter Examples

# Filter by city
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py filter --city tlv
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py filter --city haifa

# Filter by tag
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py filter --tags bar
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py filter --tags food
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py filter --tags cinema

# Venues that opened in a specific year
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py filter --opened 2005

# Venues that closed in a specific year
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py filter --closed 2010

# Venues active in a specific year
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py filter --active-in 2008

# Combine filters
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py filter --city tlv --tags bar --active-in 2010

Timeline & Location Examples

# See what was happening in a specific year
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py timeline 2005
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py timeline 1995

# Find venues near coordinates (Rothschild Blvd area)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py nearby 32.0646 34.7731
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py nearby 32.0646 34.7731 --radius 1.0

# Find venues near Florentin
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py nearby 32.0566 34.7608 --radius 0.5

Browse & Explore

# List all tags
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py tags

# Show venues with a specific tag
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py tags bar
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py tags club

# List cities
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py cities

# Database statistics
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py stats

# Random venue (great for discovery)
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py random

Options Reference

Option	Commands	Description
--json	all	Output in JSON format (agent-friendly)
--limit N	search, filter, timeline, nearby, tags	Max results (default: 25 for terminal, unlimited for --json)
--no-color	all	Disable colored output (auto-detected for non-TTY)
--fresh	all	Bypass cache and fetch fresh data from API
--city	filter	Filter by city code (tlv, haifa)
--tags	filter	Filter by tag (substring match)
--year	filter	Venues that opened or closed in this year
--active-in	filter	Venues that were active in this year
--opened	filter	Venues that opened in this year
--closed	filter	Venues that closed in this year
--radius	nearby	Search radius in km (default: 0.5)

City Codes

Code	City
tlv	Tel Aviv
haifa	Haifa

Tags

7 main categories (matching the site's UI filters):

Tag	Hebrew	Description
bar	ברים	Bar/pub
food	אוכל	Restaurant/food venue
cafe	בתי קפה	Cafe
club	מועדונים	Nightclub
cinema	בתי קולנוע	Cinema/movie theater
live_shows	הופעות	Live performances
lgbtq	להטב"ק	LGBTQ venue

Additional tags: dance_bar, lounge, wine_bar, restaurant

Use python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py tags to see current counts from live data.

Workflow Example

# 1. Explore what Tel Aviv nightlife looked like in 2008
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py timeline 2008

# 2. Filter just the bars
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py filter --active-in 2008 --tags bar

# 3. Get details on an interesting venue
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py venue "Barby"

# 4. Read user memories about it
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py memories "Barby"

# 5. Find nearby venues
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py nearby 32.0646 34.7731 --radius 0.5

Notes

• Community-curated: Historical data maintained by timemap.co.il community
• No API key needed: Public API endpoint, no authentication required
• Bilingual: Search works with Hebrew and English venue names
• Caching: 24-hour local cache (one API call per day max, ~500KB)
• Coordinates: Haversine formula for accurate distance calculations
• Deleted venues filtered: Venues marked as deleted are automatically excluded
• Color output: ANSI colors in terminal (respects NO_COLOR env var and --no-color flag)
• User memories: Many venues have community-submitted memories and photos
• Year estimates: Some opening/closing years are marked as estimates

Agent Usage Patterns

For agent integration, always use --json flag for structured output:

# Search returns array of matching venues
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py search "Barby" --json

# Timeline returns venues active in a year
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py timeline 2010 --json

# Stats returns comprehensive database metrics
python3 {baseDir}/scripts/timemap.py stats --json

All commands support --json for machine-readable output with consistent structure:

{
  "ok": true,
  "command": "search",
  "count": 2,
  "venues": [...]
}