In Bahá’u’lláh’s time, Haifa, 15 kilometres south of Bahjí, was just a small port town. Towards the end of His life, Bahá’u’lláh visited Haifa a few times. On one such visit He indicated the place where He wished the Shrine of His forerunner, the Báb, to be built.

Bahá’ís consider the Báb to be a messenger of God. His divinely ordained mission was to prepare humanity for the coming of Bahá’u’lláh. Because of this claim and the rapid spread of His teachings throughout Persia, the Báb was executed in 1850, at the age of 31.

The Shrine of the Báb forms the centrepiece of the gardens in Haifa. For Bahá’ís it is one of the holiest places on earth. The Shrine was built under the supervision of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the eldest son of Bahá’u’lláh. Here, sixty years after the Báb’s execution, the holy remains of the Báb were finally laid to rest. When Abdu’l-Bahá passed away in 1921, he also was interred in this Shrine. In 1949, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s grandson, Shoghi Effendi, had the Shrine of the Báb embellished with a magnificent golden dome.