Beautiful Sunset in the Mediterranean - Jaffa Israel

Jaffa (also known as Yafo) is the ancient port city out of which Tel Aviv has now grown. Jaffa has, in recent years, like much of South Tel Aviv, been regenerated with the old narrow streets and courtyards becoming a another highly desirable part of Tel Aviv’s urban tapestry. Jaffa flea market is a well known attraction of the area, with vendors selling a diverse range of interesting and unique products. Meanwhile the narrow passageways and ancient buildings in the Old City of Jaffa are worlds away from modern Tel Aviv.

The history of Jaffa is a long one. As of the world’s oldest ports, Jaffa is thought to have been the port from which Jonah left in the story of the Whale! The port continued to be important through history, and served as the main entry point to the land of Israel through until the late 19th century when Jews from around the world began to return to Israel. It was through Jaffa that they entered the country and in Jaffa that many initially settled. The huge population increase led to overcrowding, and tense relations developed between the Jewish and Arab residents of the city. The result was that Jews began building outside of Jaffa, firstly neighborhoods such as Neve Tzedek, and later the city of Tel Aviv.