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Circassian villages
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Rehaniya
High above the Ein Zeitim Road, some 9 kilometers north of Safed, is the Circassian village of Rehaniya. As you ascend the mountains en route to this small settlement, its well-kept houses and impressive public buildings become instantly visible. Originally Rehaniya was built as a fortress, being so far away from all other Circassian settlements. Construction was carried out according to traditional Circassian guidelines reminiscent of the methods used in the far-off mountains of the north-west Caucasus. The houses are all immediately adjacent, forming a protective wall around the village that can still be spotted today. The local mosque resembles Caucasian houses of prayer and is markedly different from Arabic-style mosques.
Rehaniya was established in 1873, but the first Circassian families did not arrive until five years later. The Circassians once inhabited three settlements in Israel: Kama, Rehaniya, and Gava, the largest of the three, located near present-day kibbutz Gan Shmuel (near the city of Hadera). The latter community, however, succumbed to Malaria, which ravaged the mosquito-infested swampy region. All that remains today is the Hirbat Cherkes burial site. Many of the first 67 families that had settled in Rehaniya were the last scions of their respective clans, following the disaster that befell the Circassian homeland. In 1864, following much bloodshed, the Russians completed their occupation of the Caucasus, decimating more than half of the Circassian nation. Some 80% of those who were left alive were forced to flee their homeland, making their way into Ottoman lands. The Turks regarded them as potential fighters that would boost their military efforts in the Balkans, thus ordering them to settle in strategically impor tant locations throughout the region. Following the independence of the Balkan nations the Circassians were once again forced to emigrate. Left at the mercy of the Ottoman regime, which settled them according to its own needs, they made their way to Anatolia, Syria and Israel. Others went to North Africa and Cyprus.
The refugee group that founded Rehaniya ultimately prospered at its new home. The 1922 census listed 211 inhabitants in the village, while the one held in late 1987 had the population figure of 687. By December 1992 the number of inhabitants had risen to 812, increasing slightly to 847 in 1994. Today the village is home to 278 families that number 1,198 residents.
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