Tzippori also known as Sepphoris, Dioceserea and Saffuriya is located in the central Galilee region, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north-northwest of Nazareth, in modern-day Israel. The site holds a rich and diverse historical and architectural legacy that includes Assyrian, Hellenistic, Judean, Babylonian, Roman, Byzantine,Islamic, Crusader, Arabic and Ottoman influences.
Interest on the part of Biblical archaeologists is related to the belief in Christian tradition that the parents of the Virgin Mary, Anna and Joachim, were natives of Tzippori, at the time a Hellenized town. Notable structures at the site include a Roman theater, two early Christian churches, a Crusader fortress that was renovated by Daher El-Omar in the 18th century, and upwards of forty different mosaics.
Tzippori once served as a center of Jewish religious and spiritual life in the Galilee; remains of a 6th-century synagogue have been uncovered in the lower section of the site. In the 7th century, the town came under the rule of the Arab caliphates like much of the rest of Palestine. Successive Arab and Islamic imperial authorities ruled the area until the end of the first World War I, with a brief interruption during the Crusades.
Until the eviction of its inhabitants by Israeli forces in 1948-1949, Saffuriya was an Arab village. The Israeli moshav Tzippori was established adjacent to the site in 1949. The area occupied by the former Arab village was designated a national park in 1992. Moshav Tzippori falls under the jurisdiction of Jezreel Valley Regional Council, and in 2006 had a population of 616
