Shefa-'Amr or Shfaram is a town in Lower Galilee, Israel.

Understand

Shefa-'Amr is an Arab town with Sunni majority and Christian and Druze minorities.

Get in

Shefa-'Amr is less than half an hour's drive from Haifa. Highway 79 passes by just south of the city.

There are plenty of buses from Haifa too. Most leave from Merkazit ha-Mifrats terminal, east of city centre, next to the railway station of the same name. There are direct buses from Nazareth as well. Be aware that most routes only stop at Shefar'am Junction, along the highway just south of the city. It's a walk of about 800 meters to the old town.

Get around

The town can be easily explored on foot.

See

The old market of Shefa-'Amr

In the center of the city, where the Sisters of Nazareth convent now stands, was a 4th-century church, St. Jacob's. This church is mentioned in the notes of Christian church historians, although the original church has been replaced by the monastery. Some marble columns remain, similar to those used to build the earliest churches.

• 1 Shefa-'Amr Fort. Built in 1760 by Zahir al-Umar, governor of the region, to secure the entrance to Galilee. The fort was built on remains of a Crusader fort called "Le Seffram". The ground floor of the fort stabled the horses, the first floor above ground was for Zahir's residential quarters. Zahir's fort is considered the biggest remaining fort in the Galilee. 
• The Tower (al Burj). An old Crusader fort located in the southern part of the city. 
• The old market of Shefa-'Amr. was once the bustling heart of the city. Now all that remains is one coffee shop where elderly men gather every day to play backgammon and drink coffee. 
• 2 Shfaram Ancient Synagogue. An old synagogue on the site of an even older structure. It is recorded as being active in 1845. A Muslim resident of the town holds the keys. The tomb of Rabbi Judah ben Baba, a well-known rabbi from the 2nd century who was captured and executed by the Romans, is still standing and many Jewish believers come to visit it.  
• Byzantine period tombs. are located in the middle of the city. They were the graves of the 5th and 6th-century Christian community. The tomb entrances are decorated with sculptures of lions and Greek inscriptions. 
• 3 St. Peter & St. Paul Church (located in one of the town's peaks near the fort). Has a high bell tower and a large purple dome. The church was built by Otman, who made a promise to build it if his fort was finished successfully. (updated Jul 2020)
• 4 Mosque of Ali Ibn Abi Talib (Old Mosque). Was constructed near the castle in the days of Sulayman Pasha al-Adil (updated Jul 2020)

Buy

Nakhly coffee-makers are based in Shefa-'Amr and have a shop where freshly ground coffee can be bought.

Go next

Haifa, Akko and Nazareth are all just a short drive from Shefa-'Amr. The national parks of Tzippori and Beit Shearim are also close.