Safed reveals its history on several levels: the heart of the Old City is a network of lanes, while the Old Cemetery, the Crusader Citadel and Beit Hameiri each offer a different historical perspective. Added to these are the importance of Kabbalah, the Klezmer Festival and Safed cheese as a local tradition. When planning your trip, you can decide whether you are most interested in the cityscape, history, culture or regional archaeology.
Old City, Cemetery and Historic Sites
The network of lanes in the heart of the Old City is a distinctive feature of Safed. Another way to explore the city’s history is through the Old Cemetery: it contains important burial sites of the Ari and his disciples, as well as the tomb of Rabbi Yosef Caro. The hillside location made access to these burial sites difficult. The Israel Government Tourism Company improved access and built a lookout point from which the entire cemetery can be seen. Check current access arrangements for the burial sites before visiting.
Remains of the fortress are visible on the partly excavated southern side of the Crusader Citadel. Beit Hameiri offers a different focus: each of its five floors presents an event from Safed’s past. While the citadel is defined by its visible fortress remains, Beit Hameiri organizes the city’s history around individual events. These two historical perspectives are easy to distinguish without treating them as a single attraction.
Kabbalah, Klezmer and Safed Cheese
Safed is considered the world capital of Kabbalah. The Ari HaKadosh and Rabbi Yosef Caro lived and worked there; their names are also associated with the important burial sites in the Old Cemetery. In Safed, religious tradition and tangible urban history can thus be encountered in different places and in different forms.
The Safed Klezmer Festival has been held since 1988 and attracts tens of thousands of visitors from around the world. If you would like to plan your trip around the festival, check the exact dates in advance. Safed cheese is another local tradition: it originated in Safed centuries ago and is still made in the city today. Alongside history and music, a production tradition maintained across generations is part of the destination’s character.
The view also offers a different perspective on Safed and its surroundings. When visibility is good, the view from Safed extends to the Sea of Galilee, Mount Hermon and Upper Galilee. Visibility can vary, but these destinations give an indication of the landscapes that can be seen from Safed.
Archaeological Highlights in the Northern District
The wider destination of the Northern District offers distinct archaeological themes at Tel Hazor and Tel Megiddo. Both are biblical tells with significant remains of cities connected to the Bible. These regional sites complement Safed’s urban and cultural highlights with evidence of earlier settlements, though they are not features of Safed itself.
A visit to Tel Hazor focuses on the Upper City. Highlights there include Solomon’s Gate, with six chambers and two towers dating to the 10th century BCE, and the Canaanite palace used by the kings of Hazor in the 14th and 13th centuries BCE. The Late Bronze Age palace is described as the most elaborate in Israel and one of the most important in the Levant. The underground water collection system is also remarkable: its remains represent sophisticated engineering for water storage, adapted to the geographical conditions. The excavated shaft is 45 metres deep; three-metre-wide steps are cut into the walls of the vertical shaft in the water system. Tel Hazor National Park can be reached from the north and south via Route 90 in the direction of Ayelet Hashahar. Check your route before setting out.
Tel Megiddo offers a different archaeological focus. Its Early Bronze Age temple complex is exceptional for the number of its temples, the continuity of its cult practices and its documented ritual activities. The orthogonal Iron Age city plan has few parallels in the Levant. The two sites in the Northern District can therefore also be distinguished by period: features of Tel Hazor include Bronze Age palace history and water engineering, while Tel Megiddo illustrates both the Early Bronze Age and a rare Iron Age city plan.
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