Nazareth

===Ottoman period===
[[File:Titus Tobler's 1868 map of Nazareth.jpg|260px|thumb|[[Titus Tobler]]'s 1868 map of Nazareth]]
[[File:Nazareth, by Jansson.png|260px|thumb|Nazareth, in 1657, by [[Jan Janssonius]]]]
[[File:Nazareth the holy land 1842.jpg|260px|thumb|Nazareth, in 1839, published in ''[[The Holy Land, Syria, Idumea, Arabia, Egypt, and Nubia]]'']]
[[File:Well of St. Mary, Nazareth, by Felix Bonfils.jpg|260px|thumb|[[Well of St. Mary]], Nazareth, by [[Felix Bonfils]], ca 1880]]
In 1584 the Franciscan friars were evicted again from the site of the ruined basilica.<ref name=Dumperp273/> In 1620, [[Fakhr-al-Din II]], a [[Druze]] [[emir]] who controlled this part of [[Ottoman Syria]], permitted them to build a small church at the [[Grotto of the Annunciation]]. Pilgrimage tours to surrounding sacred sites were organised by the Franciscans, but the monks suffered harassment from surrounding [[Bedouin]] tribes who often kidnapped them for ransom.<ref name=Dumperp273/>

Stability returned with the rule of [[Zahir al-Umar]], a powerful Arab [[sheikh]] who ruled the [[Galilee]], and later much of the [[Levant]]ine coast and Palestine. He transformed Nazareth from a minor village into a large town by encouraging immigration to it. Nazareth played a strategic role in Zahir's [[sheikhdom]] because it allowed him to wield control over the agricultural areas of central Galilee.<ref>{{cite book |last=Yazbak |first=Mahmoud |author-link=Mahmoud Yazbak |title=Haifa in the Late Ottoman Period, A Muslim Town in Transition, 1864–1914 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DPseCvbPsKsC |publisher=Brill Academic Pub |year=1998 |isbn=90-04-11051-8 |page=15 |access-date=27 February 2016 |archive-date=25 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181225102059/https://books.google.com/books?id=DPseCvbPsKsC |url-status=live }}</ref> He ensured Nazareth's security for other reasons as well, among them strengthening ties with [[France]] by protecting the Christian community and protecting one of his wives who resided in Nazareth.<ref name="Emmett22">Emmett 1995, p. 22.</ref>

Zahir authorized the Franciscans to build a church in 1730. That structure stood until 1955, when it was demolished to make way for a larger building completed in 1967.<ref name=Dumperp273/> He also permitted the Franciscans to purchase the [[Synagogue Church]] in 1741 and authorized the Greek Orthodox community to build [[Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation|St. Gabriel's Church]] in 1767.<ref name="Emmett22"/> Zahir commissioned the construction of a government house known as the [[Seraya]], which served as the city's municipal headquarters until 1991. His descendants—known as the "Dhawahri"—along with the Zu'bi, Fahum, and 'Onassah families later constituted Nazareth's traditional Muslim elite.<ref>{{cite book|last=Srouji|first=Elias S.|title=Cyclamens from Galilee: Memoirs of a Physician from Nazareth|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fp1y2bMtvNUC&q=Dhaher&pg=PA187|year=2003|publisher=iUniverse, Inc.|isbn=9780595303045|page=187|access-date=1 November 2020|archive-date=28 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210528163546/https://books.google.com/books?id=fp1y2bMtvNUC&q=Dhaher&pg=PA187|url-status=live}}</ref>

Nazareth's Christian community did not fare well under Zahir's Ottoman successor, [[Jazzar Pasha]] (r. 1776–1804), and friction increased between its Christians and Muslim peasants from the surrounding villages.<ref>Emmett 1995, p. 23.</ref> Nazareth was temporarily captured by the troops of [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] in 1799, during his [[Napoleonic Campaign in Egypt|Syrian campaign]]. Napoleon visited the holy sites and considered appointing his general [[Jean-Andoche Junot]] as the duke of Nazareth.<ref name=Dumperp273/> During the rule of Governor [[Ibrahim Pasha of Egypt]] (1830–1840) over much of [[Ottoman Syria]], Nazareth was opened to European missionaries and traders. After the Ottomans regained control, European money continued to flow into Nazareth and new institutions were established. The Christians of Nazareth were protected during the [[1860 Mount Lebanon civil war#Spread of conflict|massacres of 1860]] by [[Aqil Agha]], the Bedouin leader who exercised control over the Galilee between 1845 and 1870.<ref name=Dumperp273/>

[[Kaloost Vartan]], an [[Armenians|Armenian]] from [[Istanbul]], arrived in 1864 and established the first medical mission in Nazareth, the Scottish "hospital on the hill", or [[the Nazareth Hospital]] as it is known today, with sponsorship from the [[List of Protestant missionary societies|Edinburgh Medical Missionary Society]]. The Ottoman Sultan, who favored the French, allowed them to establish an orphanage, the Society of Saint Francis de Sale. By the late 19th century, Nazareth was a town with a strong Arab Christian presence and a growing European community, where a number of communal projects were undertaken and new religious buildings were erected.<ref name=Dumperp273/> In 1871 Christ Church, the city's only Anglican church, was completed under the leadership of the Rev [[John Zeller]] and consecrated by Bishop [[Samuel Gobat]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Miller|first=Duane Alexander|title=Christ Church (Anglican) in Nazareth: a brief history with photographs|journal=St Francis Magazine|date=October 2012|volume=8|issue=5|pages=696–703|url=http://www.stfrancismagazine.info/ja/images/stories/DuaneMiller-oct2012.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130908180608/http://www.stfrancismagazine.info/ja/images/stories/DuaneMiller-oct2012.pdf|archive-date=8 September 2013}}</ref>

In the late 19th century and the first years of the 20th century, Nazareth prospered as it served the role of a market center for the dozens of rural Arab villages located within its vicinity. Local peasants would purchase supplies from Nazareth's many ''souks'' (open-air markets), which included separate ''souks'' for agricultural produce, metalwork, jewelry and leathers.<ref name="Emmett37">Emmett 1995, p. 37.</ref> In 1914, Nazareth consisted of eight quarters: 'Araq, Farah, Jami', Khanuq, Maidan, Mazazwa, Sharqiya and Shufani. There were nine churches, two monasteries, four convents, two mosques, four hospitals, four private schools, a public school, a police station, three orphanages, a hotel, three inns, a flour mill and eight ''souks''.<ref>Emmett 1995, p. 33.</ref> The Ottomans lost control of Palestine, including Nazareth, to the [[Allies of World War I|Allied Powers]] during [[World War I]]. By then, Nazareth's importance declined significantly as most of the Arab villages in the [[Jezreel Valley]] had been replaced by newly established [[Yishuv|Jewish]] communities.<ref name="Emmett37"/>