Mi'ilya
Christian local council in Israel
Mi'ilya (Arabic: معليا; Hebrew: מִעִלְיָא), also called Mi'elya, is an Arab local council in the western Galilee in the Northern District of Israel. Its name during the Kingdom of Jerusalem era in Galilee was Castellum Regis. In 2024 it had a population of 3,323, all of whom are Melkite Greek Catholics. The town is located immediately to the northwest of Ma'alot-Tarshiha.
History
Archaeological excavations in Mi'ilya gives indication of inhabitation from the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age, as well as Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman periods. Remains include a mosaic carpet with a Greek inscription, dating from the fifth or early sixth century CE.
Crusader period
In the Crusader period, Mi'ilya and its castle, Castellum Regis ('King's Castle') were first mentioned in 1160, when they and several surrounding villages were transferred to a Crusader named Iohanni de Caypha (Johannes of Haifa). It was probably built during King Baldwin III's reign and possessed one of the largest wineries in the Crusader states.
By 1179 the castle had apparently been rebuilt, as it was then called Castellum Novo ('New Castle'). That year, Viscountess Petronella of Acre sold the houses, vineyards and gardens of Mi'ilya to Count Jocelyn III, uncle of King Baldwin IV.. In 1182, Baldwin IV granted the castle to his uncle, Jocelyn III. At this time it was called "The new castle in the mountains of Acre".
The public source identifies “Mi'ilya” as christian local council in Israel. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mi'ilya, Christian and local.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 24, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2917297. Authority coordinates are 33.025, 35.260. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2024, 1160, 1179 and 1182.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mi'ilya” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.