23rd Dec 2019 (extended tour) Haifa, St Peter's Church, Old Jaffa, Tel Aviv Esplanade

Haifa City

Haifa is the third-largest city in Israel – after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel, the settlement has a history spanning more than 3,000 years. The earliest known settlement in the vicinity was Tell Abu Hawam, a small port city established in the Late Bronze Age (14th century BCE). In the 3rd century CE, Haifa was known as a dye-making center. Over the millennia, the Haifa area has changed hands: being conquered and ruled by the Canaanites, Israelites, Phoenicians, Persians, Hasmoneans, Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Crusaders, Ottomans, and the British.

St Peter's Church, Old Jaffa & City of Tel Aviv

St. Peter's is an old  Franciscan Church, located in Old Jaffa. It commemorates the visit and miracle of St. Peter in Jaffa. St. Peter’s Church in Jaffa and the neighboring St. Peter’s Monastery were built by the Spanish government for the Franciscan Brothers between the years 1888 and 1894 where the fortress of St Louis IX, King of France had stood at the time of the 6th Crusade (c. 1251). 

The walled city of Jaffa was the only inhabited part of what is now Tel Aviv in early modern times. Jaffa was an important port city in the region for millennia. Archaeological evidence shows signs of human settlement there starting in roughly 7,500 BC. The city was established aeound 1,800 BC at the latest. Its natural harbour has been used since the Bronze Age. By the time Tel Aviv was founded as a separate city during Ottoman rule of the region, Jaffa had been ruled by the Canaanites, Egyptians, Philistines, Israelites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Phoenicians, Ptolemies, Seleucids, Hasmoneans, Romans, Byzantines, the early Islamic caliphates, Crusaders, Ayyubids, and Mamluks before coming under Ottoman rule in 1515. It had been fought over numerous times. The city is mentioned in ancient Egyptian documents, as well as the Hebrew Bible.