Jaffa

====16th-18th centuries====
In 1515, Jaffa was conquered by the [[Ottoman Empire|Ottoman]] [[Ottoman dynasty|sultan]] [[Selim I]].<ref name="HüttAbdul">Hütteroth and Abdulfattah, 1977, p. 151</ref>

In the [[Defter|census]] of 1596, it appeared located in the ''[[nahiya]]'' of ''[[Ramla]]'' in the ''[[Liwa (Arabic)|liwa]]'' of [[Gaza Sanjak|Gaza]]. It had a population of 15 households, all [[Muslim]]. They paid a fixed tax rate of 33,3 % on various products; a total of 7,520 [[akçe]].<ref name="HüttAbdul"/>

The traveller [[Jean Cotwyk]] (Cotovicus) described Jaffa as a heap of ruins when he visited in 1598.<ref>{{cite book |title= Jewish Encyclopedia |chapter= Jaffa |author= Gotthard Deutsch and M. Franco |year= 1903 |chapter-url= http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/8497-jaffa }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author= Joannes Cotovicus |title= Itinerarium Hierosolymitanum et Syriacum |publisher= apud Hieronymum Verdussium |year= 1619 |page= 135 |url = https://archive.org/details/A091230 |place= Antwerp}}</ref> Botanist and traveller [[Leonhard Rauwolf]] landed near the site of the town on 13 September 1575 and wrote "we landed on the high, rocky shore where the town of Joppe did stand formerly, at this time the town was so demolished that there was not one house to be found." (p.&nbsp;212, Rauwolf, 1582)

The 17th century saw the beginning of the re-establishment of churches and hostels for Christian pilgrims en route to Jerusalem and the Galilee. During the 18th century, the coastline around Jaffa was often besieged by pirates and this led to the inhabitants relocating to [[Ramla]] and [[Lod]], where they relied on messages from a solitary guard house to inform them when ships were approaching the harbour. The landing of goods and passengers was notoriously difficult and dangerous. Until well into the 20th century, ships had to rely on teams of oarsmen to bring their cargo ashore.<ref>Thomson, 1859, vol 2, p. [https://archive.org/stream/landandbookorbi08thomgoog#page/n287/mode/1up 275]</ref>