OLD JAFFA TOWN - OLD JAFFA

Jaffa (Hebrew: Yaffo) is one of Israel's oldest cities. Its origins date back to 3,000 BC. According to biblical tradition, the city owes its name to Japheth, one of Noah's three sons, and is the site from which the famous ark set sail. In fact, the name Jaffa more probably derives from the Hebrew yofi meaning "beauty". Jaffa soon became Palestine's main port, before passing in turn into the hands of the Egyptians, the Romans, the Arabs, Richard the Lionheart, the Arabs again, briefly Napoleon, the Ottomans and, in 1917, British General Allenby. From the end of the ^19th century, Jaffa became the main port of return to Zion, and the scene of numerous conflicts between Jewish immigrants and the local Arab population, culminating in the riots of 1921. The first Jews gradually settled outside Jaffa (in Neve Tzedek), and the city gradually stretched northwards, until it became the great Tel Aviv we know today. It then swallowed up Ottoman Jaffa, which became one of its neighborhoods. Today, you can wander through a maze of alleys and stone buildings.

Kikar Kedumim is the central square of ancient Jaffa. It partly covers archaeological sites excavated in the 1940s and 1950s. St. Peter's Church is located here.

Saint Peter's Church in Kedumim Square was consecrated in 1654. A Franciscan church, it was built on the ruins of a medieval fortress. Its belfry dominates the Mediterranean.

Place de l'Horloge is home to Jaffa's most emblematic monument: the Clock Tower. Built in 1906 by the Turkish sultan Abed-el-Hamid II, it faces the former governor's house and the Kishle, a prison used by the Ottomans and the British.

The Mahmoudia Mosque, a few steps from Clock Square, is the most important mosque in Jaffa and thus in Tel Aviv. It was built in 1812 by Abu Nabbut, Ottoman governor of Jaffa from 1810 to 1820. It is magnificent, especially its fountain where believers refresh themselves.

Gan Hapisga are the gardens that dominate the hillside of the old town. These "summit gardens" offer a magnificent view of the sea and the new city of Tel Aviv.

The Libyan synagogue, or Beit Zunana, lies below on Rue Pasteur. Erected in 1740, this building was Jaffa's first Jewish inn. It was converted into a synagogue in 1948.