Jaffa

Today we went to the old part of Jaffa (Yafo). It is a beautiful city, neighbored by Tel Aviv (and actually the two are combined today), off the coast of the Mediterranean. I thought Jaffa would be a good topic for a post.

Archaeologists have found evidence that Jaffa existed as a port 4,000 years ago, and they served Egyptian and Phoenician sailors at sea. The word jaffa means beautiful. Historians believe Jaffa is the only port city which has been uninterruptedly inhabited through it’s entire time as a city.

Bibical account lists cedars from Lebanon coming to Jerusalem through Jaffa. Many people have passed through Jaffa; It was occasionally held by Philistia, and it became a Hebrew territory after the Babylonian Captivity. During the Crusades, Richard the Lion Heart took the city. Napoleon also visited the city. The city was a point of entry for many pilgrims until the 20th Century.

We visited the old part of Jaffa today, and were able to walk around and see some beautiful places.For more historical information, check out this site. Enjoy the pictures I took!









I went to use my camera when I landed in Israel, and my trusted camera which has been on several trips with me was broken! Thank goodness my dad brought his smaller camera with him in addition to his other camera. I am also thankful for the zoom power of the little camera! The first picture at the top of my post was taken from the beach in Tel Aviv, a couple miles away.