Jaffa and Tel Aviv

Jaffa is not just any other old city, of which there are hundreds in Israel. Even by the standards of a country where cities dating from before Roman times are everywhere, this is an ancient place. It's been continuously inhabited for almost 10,000 years. For most of this time, it has been a port, with both commercial and military uses. In the most recent modern times, it has been absorbed and incorporated into the city of Tel Aviv (which is actually formally known Tel Aviv-Jaffa).

This is the quintessential view of Jaffa, with the Sea Mosque tower and the Andromeda rocks behind it. The Sea Mosque is the oldest mosque there, and the rocks are the ones where Perseus rescued the chained Andromeda from the sea monster.


Stairs to Kedumim Square:




St Peter's church:


Jaffa Light, in operation since 1865:


Views of Jaffa streets:










The Wishing Bridge - decorated with zodiac signs. If you touch your Zodiac sign while facing the sea and make a wish, it'll come true. (But it was closed when we were there - what does that mean?)


Perhaps in reference to the bridge, some of the streets in Jaffa have street numbers and signs decorated with zodiac signs as well:




The hill of Jaffa also affords the best views of the modern Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean Sea (the 4th sea we've been to in Israel):






This one is a special shout-out to my Indian friends. We came across it while walking around Tel Aviv's sea-facing boulevard.