Kapell Visitors Center Safed

{{Infobox
|title = Livnot Information Center
|image        = [[File:00000305 livnot info center safed.jpg|215px|alt=Kapell Visitors Center Safed]]
|header1 = Hebrew:
|data2  = לבנות ולהבנות צפת
|header3 = Spelling:
|data4   = Kapel
|header5 = Other Names:
|data6   = Safed Tourist Information Center, Information Center of Tzfat
|header7 = Description:
|data8   = Information center for tourists visiting Safed, Israel.
}}

Kapell Visitors Center of Safed is a tourist information center. The Visitors Center, sponsored by the Palm Beach Florida Partnership 2000 Project and administered by the Livnot U’Lehibanot Israel program aims to offer visitors an inclusive overview of the town, its [[Safed History|history]], importance and spirituality. Staff are available to answer questions and provide resources.


== Central Address ==

In 1999 the UJA/Partnership 2000 of Palm Beach, Florida, [[Safed|Safed’s]] twin city, turned to the [[Livnot ULehibanot|Livnot U’Lehibanot]] non-profit to request that they establish and administer a tourist information center for the city. Tzfat’s tourist industry was expanding and the city was unable to operate a central visitors center.

Livnot opened the center on Alkabetz Street, along the main tourist center of Tsfat. The goal of the center was to encourage tourism in the city, provide a supportive environment for all organizations and businesses involved in the tourist industry and serve as a central address to which tourists and locals could turn for a wide variety of information about Tzfat.

== Services ==

The Tzfat Visitors Center is open throughout the week with expanded hours during peak tourist periods and during holiday seasons. The Center offers a 10-minute movie on the history of Tzfat, exhibitions about the history of the city, the chronology of the [[Safed War of Independence|War of Independence]] and local historical sites. Visitors can obtain maps and guides of the area, referrals for tour guides and accommodations in the area and information about various points of interest.

== Archaeological Excavations ==

The present [[Old City Safed|Old Jewish Quarter of Tzfat]] is built on the ruins of the homes and buildings of people who lived in the city hundreds of years ago. The city’s location, in the Syrian Rift Valley, makes it prone to earthquakes. The two most recent quakes, in [[Safed 1759 Earthquake|1759]] and [[Safed 1837 Earthquake|1837]], created landslides which covered the city, including all of its structures. These buildings however had been built in the traditional Mediterranean style of domed ceilings and arches. Arches and domes do not collapse when an earthquake strikes. Hundreds of these old homes remain buried under the rubble.

Visitors to the Kapell Visitors Center have an opportunity to walk down into an excavated ruin, a house that, 500 years ago, sat at street level but is now buried underground. The excavation provides a vivid representation of life in Tsfat of the Middle Ages, the architecture of the day and the structures that remain buried under the ground.

The [[Kahal of Safed|excavations]] are open to the public and entrance is free.

== Unifying Center ==

The Kapell Center encompasses the spectrum of available activities, businesses, galleries and institutions of Safed. The Center represents all private and public venues and organizations, creating a unified resource which allows visitors to access information about the city without religious, political or special interest biases.

{{Claim Page}}

[[Category:Jewish Organizations]] [[Category:Safed]]