Mystic City

A visit to the city of Safed (Tsfat) - with its magnificent mountaintop setting and fresh, clean mountain air, is a heavenly experience.

Safed is a picturesque city of spiritualists and artists, wrapped in mysticism and mystery, and steeped in sacred atmosphere. Visitors to Safed sense the city’s warm embrace as they wander through its alleyways past charming stone houses with their artists’ studios and workshops.

Safed is one of the four holy cities in Israel, together with Jerusalem, Tiberias and Hebron. It has been a spiritual center since the 1600s when it was the center of Kabbala (Jewish mysticism). The Kabbalist mystics lived, studied, taught, and wrote in the city and many of the graves are objects of veneration.

The ancient picturesque alleyways of the Jewish quarter contain hidden niches and beautiful synagogues whose rich past emanates from the high ceilings, colorful decorations, and ancient Torah scrolls.

To visit Safed - with the grapevines growing up the arbors of its stone houses, the decorated iron gates, the beautiful panorama that is visible from the verandas, and the winding cobblestone alleyways, is like strolling through a painting.