Rafidia or Rafidiya (Arabic: رفيديا) is a neighborhood in the western part of the Palestinian city of Nablus. It was a separate village until it was merged into the municipality in 1966.[1] There are currently three Palestinian Christian families and a Muslim one, although Christians number only over 700.[2] In 1961, Rafidia had 923 inhabitants, rising to 1,200 in 1983.[3]
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Rafidia was originally owned by the prominent Touqan family of Nablus. They ceded it to an Arab Christian family with Ghassanid origins from al-Karak, in modern-day Jordan in the 17th century. According to tradition, the family, consisting of a father, and his three sons and daughter had fled al-Karak to avoid marrying the daughter, Rafid, to Emir Udwan, a Muslim prince of the city. They initially migrated to Taybeh through the Dead Sea, but then moved north towards Nablus. At the time, there was one Muslim family in the area, al-Hassouneh, and after the Christian family settled, the two families split the land and the water between themselves equally. The village was named "Rafidia" in honor of Rafid.[2]
The Church of St. Justinus of Nablus is a Roman Catholic church built in 1887. In 1907, the Rosary sisterhood arrived in Nablus and Rafidia to serve the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and assist the priest in the service of the church by visiting the families and teaching children. They also set up the Rosary Sisters School in Nablus and Rafidia. As a result of the earthquake that hit Nablus in 1927, the church was damaged, but the Patriarchate renovated it and the church was reopened in 1931.[2]
The Church of St. Justinus underwent further renovation and expansion throughout various periods. In 1956, the new bell tower was built and the church was expanded, and then in 1980, the church was again renovated, expanded and painted with frescos and adorned with stained glass windows with church-related drawings.[2]
The Protestant Church of St. Matthew the Anglican was formerly a house that was rented in 1932 by the parish. The guest room was used as the church and the other rooms were used as a school for the church from that date on. It was never built as a church, but a house rented out to become a church and a Protestant school.[2]