Haifa’s harbor location has made it attractive to settlers for the past 1700 years. Haifa got its start as a tiny fishing outpost called Sycaminum, but in the 500s A.D. it was occupied by the Persians, who developed and expanded the village. The Persians lay the groundwork that has allowed Haifa to become the trading port that it is today. European crusaders, who arrived in 1099, dubbed the city Caiphas before raiding it and laying waste to its docks and other harbor developments. The Crusaders did renovate the city partially, building a castle in nearby Atlit, but that was later sacked by a combined army from Egypt and Syria.

Haifa was unable to regain its status as an important trade town until the 1500s, when the Ottoman Turks incorporated it into their empire and attempted to revive trade there. Though Haifa’s harbor connected it to the world by sea, there were no reliable overland routes through this part of northern Israel until the 1900s, when railroad tracks were added to connect Haifa to Syria. When Israel became a state, Haifa was the natural choice for development and became Israel’s third most populated city and one of its largest ports and commercial hubs. As the center of operations for the Baha’i faith , Haifa attracts a diverse population of worshippers, as well.