09/07/2023
RAMLA. The city was founded in the early 8th century CE by the Umayyad prince Sulayman ibn Abd al-Malik as the capital of Jund Filastin, the district he governed in Bilad al-Sham before becoming caliph in 715. The city's strategic and economic value is derived from its location at the intersection of the Via Maris, connecting Cairo with Damascus, and the road connecting the Mediterranean port of Jaffa with Jerusalem. Not long after its establishment, Ramla developed as the commercial center of Palestine, serving as a hub for pottery, dyeing, weaving, and olive oil, and as the home of numerous Muslim scholars. On our tour, we visited some important city landmarks like - Pool of Arches, known as St. Helen's Pool is an underground water cistern built during the reign of the Abbasid caliph Haroun al-Rashid in 789 CE (in the Early Muslim period) to provide Ramla with a steady supply of water. The Great Mosque, who built by the Crusaders as a cathedral in the first half of the 12th century and was converted into a mosque when the Mamluks conquered Ramla in the second half of the 13th century when they added a round minaret, an entrance from the north, and a mihrab. Franciscan church and hospice of St Nicodemus and St Joseph of Arimathea are easily recognized by its clock-faced, square tower. It belongs to the Franciscan church. Napoleon used the hospice as his headquarters during his Palestine campaign in 1799. Just for the taste of all the goods we walked through the colorful market tasting the extraordinary fruit, vegetables, and food.
