Jaffa

Jaffa is an ancient port city and now the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv. Jaffa is claimed to be the oldest port in the world and was founded by Japheth, the son of biblical Noah, not to be confused with our tour guide, Noa. The city was established at the latest around 1800 BCE. It was built on a high ridge giving it a broad view of the coastline and strategic importance in military history.

Jaffa is known for its association with the biblical stories of Jonah, Solomon, and Saint Peter. It was also known later for a mythological story and for its oranges. The Egyptians and Napoleon have history here as well. We spent the better part of a day in Old Jaffa.

Saint Peter’s Church and bell tower is the largest and most distinct building in Old Jaffa. The church shown in the 1st photo was originally built in 1654 but destroyed twice. The current church was built between 1888 and 1894.

The 2nd photo is the port of Jaffa. We saw very little activity in or near the port, but the water was beautiful.

The next photo shows buildings directly along the port’s edge. Since the bulk of our small travel group is in the photo, I may as well dig a little dirt about them. For the most part, we had a fabulous group of people. BUT, you didn’t want to get between them and a coffee shop, or them and a bar with a bartender on duty, or between them and an ice cream store. Other that that, they were terrific people…and you don’t see me getting in their way.

Like so many ancient towns, Jaffa had plenty of narrow, winding, stone streets, and alleyways. This is just one of them.

Much like the last photo, the old streets also go up and down quite a bit. It wasn’t usually flat ground in Jaffa.