Jaffa

Jaffa, or Joppa (properly Yafa), a port of Palestine about 30 miles N.W. of Jerusalem, with which it is now connected by railway. It is mentioned in an inscription of Sennacherib, and was the harbour of Judaea after the exile. It was fortified by Simon Maccabaeus, and destroyed by Vespasian as a nest of pirates. Captured by Saladin in 1187, it was retaken by Richard in 1191, but a few years later again taken by Malek el Adil. In 1799 it was stormed by Napoleon. The modern town is the seat of a lieutenant-governor, and has several foreign consulates. A trade in fruit and wheat is carried on. There are many fruit-gardens, orchards, and wells of sweet water in the neighbourhood.