Safed rose to fame in the sixteenth century as a center of Jewish mysticism. After the expulsion of all the Jews from Spain in 1492, many prominent rabbis found their way to Safed. Safed reached its peak under the rule of the Sultans Suleiman I and Selim II, when Safed became a global center for Jewish learning and a regional center for trade throughout the fifteenth and sisxteenth centuries. In 1837 there were around 4,000 Jews in Safed. The Galilee earthquake of 1837 was particularly catastrophic for the Jewish population, as the Jewish quarter was located on the hillside. About half their number perished, resulting in around 2,000 deaths. The Jewish population was increased in the last half of the nineteenth century by immigration from Persia, Morocco, and Algeria. Moses Montefiore visited Safed seven times and financed the rebuilding of much of the town.