Gan Hapisga

Also known as the summit garden, this park has large green lawns, an outdoor stage and a beautiful view point towards modern Tel Aviv. The white carved stone you see below is called "The Gate of the Faith". Sculptured by Daniel Kari in 1977, the structure expresses the Jewish people's right to inherit the land. The gate has two pillars and a stone beam stretching from the top of one to the other. Each pillar is three meters tall and weighs nine tons. One pillar represents the sacrifice of Isaac by Abraham and the other symbolizes Jacob's dream of angels ascending and descending as told in Genesis. However, the beam depicts Jericho's fall under Joshua.

For more details see http://www.danielkafri.com/pages/text/leran.htm

St. Peter's Monastery

This Franciscan church and monastery of St Peter, built in 1654 on the site of a 13th century Crusader castle is one of the landmarks of Jaffa. Its name recalls the apostle Peter's visit to Jaffa (Acts 10). Napoleon is said to have stayed in the monastery while he conquered Jaffa. It is one of the few churches in Israel that faces west (normally a church altar faces east). The main painting in the church depicts St. Peter on the roof of Simon the tanner's house; is the work of an artist Talarn.

House of Simon the Tanner

According to Bible, Peter’s famous vision of the great sheet filled with unclean animals occured here, which ultimately opened the way of christianity to non-Jewish world (see Acts 10:9-47 for details). Excavations under this location show that it was the site of a first century Roman era tannery and therefore the probability for this house to be the traditional home of Simon the Tanner could be more. The present house was rebuilt some 700 years ago. There is also a lighthouse near the house, installed in 1875 to guide ships and fishing vessels past Jaffa's rocky shores. Members of the Armenian Christian Zakarian family, who still live in the house, were in charge of operating the lighthouse for generations. I couldn't enter the house as it was closed for rennovation.

Old Jaffa Zodiac Alley

Every lane has a different zodiac sign (see the blue board).

The Wishing Bridge

The bridge you see here is called the wishing bridge and all the 12 zodiac-signs are fixed on its shoulders. Now what you are supposed to do is to touch your zodiac sign, look over the sea, and make a wish. And if the legend works your wish comes true!

Kedumim Square and vicinity, Jaffa

This plaza is old Jaffa's heart with St Peter's monastery at its center point. All major activities like concerts and public gatherings happen here during evening hours and hence a must place to visit in Jaffa at night. The venue is rich with excavation sites, restaurants, gift shops and artist galleries. The 3rd-century BC catacombs (burial chambers) excavated from here is now part of the underground visitor center of Jaffa.