Khirbat Sufin
Sufin was an ancient village located approximately 1 kilometer east of the current city center. Today, the Sultan Muhammad Al-Fateh Mosque stands on the site of the former Sufin village.
The village of Sufin was abandoned and destroyed in 1813 AD. The history of disturbances and conflict between the people of Sufin and the Ottoman Empire dated back to 1805 AD, when the village was first bombed by the Ottoman army's cannons. This led some of the villagers to relocate to the nearby city of Qalqilya.
In 1813 AD, the governor of the Levant region sent his deputy to collect taxes from the people of Sufin. The deputy used violence and force, which prompted the Sheikh of the Bani-Saab region, Sheikh Abu Odeh al-Jayyusi, to defy the Sublime Porte (the Ottoman government) and take refuge in the Sufin Castle. This led to a prolonged siege of the village by Ibrahim Pasha, the deputy governor of the Levant. With the support of the governor of Sidon, the Ottomans eventually stormed Sufin, demolished its houses and castle, killed some of the villagers, and displaced the remaining population.
The people of Sufin subsequently settled in Qalqilya, likely due to its proximity to their original homeland and the abundance of water and fertile soil in the area. The abandoned Sufin site has revealed various archaeological features, including around 30 wells, caves, rock-cut tombs, and mosaic floors. Additionally, some relatively modern graves have been discovered, one of which is believed to be the tomb of Sheikh Saleh bin Khairuddin Sabri.
It is an archaeological site and a village abandoned at the beginning of the nineteenth century, 1813 AD.