Zefat Castle (מצודת צפת) Traditional Cache
Yarives: I am too far to maintenance this any more
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This is a very nice cache site. You will have a chance to combine nature, a view, and endless history. The castle history can be found in the following paragraphs. You can also climb up to the top of the hill and hear a very nice recorded explanation of the site. And some, more resent historical information. (In both English and Hebrew)
The cache is a medium sized plastic jar with a blue lid. The cache is located a bit off the path but you do not need to cross any fences or climb any walls to reach it. Look for a cement beam at about 1.4 meters from the ground or on the ground (depends from which side you are coming). It is covered with 3 stones.
Please use stealth as this site is often packed with visitors….
More history
In the 12th century, Safed was a fortified city in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem known as Saphet. The Knights Hospitaller built a castle there.
In 1240, Theobald I of Navarre, on his own Crusade to the Holy Land, negotiated with the Muslim Ayyubids of Damascus and Egypt and finalised a treaty with the former against the latter whereby the Kingdom of Jerusalem regained Jerusalem itself, plus Bethlehem, Nazareth, and most of the region of Galilee with many Templar castles, such as Saphet
In 1260, the Mamluk sultan Baybars declared the treaty invalid due to the Christians working in concert with the Mongol Empire against the Muslims, and launched a series of attacks on castles in the area, include on Saphet. In 1266 he wiped out the Christian Templar population and turned it into a Muslim town called Safed or Safat. Samuel ben Samson who visited the town in the 13th-century mentions the existence of a Jewish community of at least fifty there
According to al-Dimashqi (who died in Safed in 1327), writing around 1300, Baybars, after levelling the old fortress, built a "round tower and called it Kullah..".The tower is built in three stories. It is provided with provisions, and halls, and magazines. Under the place is a cistern for rain-water, sufficient to supply the garrison of the fortress from year's end to year's end.[11] According to Abu al-Fida, Safed "was a town of medium size". It has a very strongly built castle, which dominates the Lake of Tabariyyah. There are underground watercourses, which bring drinking-water up to the castle-gate...Its suburbs cover three hills... Since the place was conquered by Al Malik Adh Dhahir from the Franks, it has been made the central station for the troops who guard all the coast-towns of that district."
Additional Hints
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