"Like visiting into a painting" a Zefat Travel Page by FruitLover

Zefat [Hebrew: Tzefat, also spelled Safed] is an important spiritual center throughout history, mentioned in the Talmud, regarded as a holy Jewish city along with Jerusalem, Tiberias and Hebron as a center for the Kabbalah, a form of Jewish mysticism.

History in a nutshell:
According to legend, Tzfat was founded by a son of Noah after the great deluge. Historical sources indicate that the town was founded in the 2nd century CE, during Roman times.
The city was fortified by Josephus Flavius against the Romans.
The Crusaders made it an administrative center.
After its capture by Sultan Beibars, its castle was destroyed but the town was rebuilt.

After the expulsion from Spain on 1492, the Othoman regime encouraged Jews to settle here. During this brief spiritual prosperity, Tzfat became a major center for the study of KABBALAH. Many important creations were written here, one of them is 'Shulchan Aruch'.

Tzfat, with altitude of above 900m has some health and holiday resorts thanks to pleasant summers and (sometimes) snowy winters with a lot of greenery.

The city, being in Northern Israel, has experienced on August 2006 a barrage of rocket (Katyusha) attacks, fired from Lebanon by terroristic organization of Hezbollah.