Tzfat,
Safed (Hebrew: צְפַת, Tzfat; Arabic: صفد, Ṣafad), also known as Zefat, is a city in the Northern District of Israel. Located at an altitude of 900 metres (2,953 ft), Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and of Israel.[2] Due to its high altitude, Safed experiences pleasantly warm summers and cold, and often snowy winters.[3] Since the sixteenth century, Safed has been considered one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Hebron and Tiberias.[4] From that time until today, the city has been a center of Jewish mysticism. In more recent times, thanks to its beautiful setting surrounded by pine forests, and its agreeable, mild summers, Safed has developed into a summer holiday resort much frequented by Israelis and also foreign visitors.[5] [edit] History According to the Book of Judges, the region was assigned to the Tribe of Naphtali.[6] The city of Safed itself first appears in Jewish sources in the late Middle Ages.[3] It is mentioned in the Jerusalem Talmud as one of five elevated spots where fires were lit to announce the New Moon and festivals during the Second Temple period.[7] Legend has it that Safed was founded by a son of Noah after the Great Flood.[3] Safed has been identified with Sepph, a fortified Jewish town in the Upper Galilee mentioned in the writings of the Roman Jewish historian Josephus (Wars 2:573).[citation needed] Crusader ruinsIn the 12th century, Safed was a fortified city in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem known as Saphet.[3] The Knights Hospitaller built a castle there. In 1266, the Mamluk sultan Baybars wiped out the Christian Templar population and turned it into a Muslim town called Safad or Safat. Samuel ben Samson who visited the town in the 13th-century mentions the existence of a Jewish community of at least fifty members there.[8] Accord
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