LODDA (Hebrew: Lôdh; Greek: Αύδδα). — A city in Palestine, 20 km from Jaffa and 44 km from Jerusalem. It is mentioned among the cities conquered by Thutmose III; its foundation, according to 1 Chron. 8:12, is linked to the Benjaminite Shamed. After the exile, it was repopulated by Benjaminites (Ezra 2:33; Neh. 7:37; 11:35), but it gained importance only in the Hellenistic period, when it became the capital of a toparchy (Antiquitates Judaicae, XX, 2; Bellum Judaicum, III, 3, 5). Around 145 BC, Demetrius II Nicator detached it from Samaria and joined it to Judea, giving it to Judas Maccabeus (1 Macc. 11:34; Antiquitates Judaicae, XVIII, 4, 9). Pompey took it from the Maccabees, but Caesar restored it to them. Around AD 200, Septimius Severus gave it the name Diospolis. St. Peter found Christians there already and healed Aeneas (Acts 9:32-34).
The bishop of L. appears at Nicaea (325); the cult of St. George, believed to be a native of L., was well known by the 6th century due to the church built over his relics, which had been transferred from Nicomedia. After AD 70, the Jews had a flourishing rabbinic school there. L. lost importance with the rise of Ramla (8th century). In the Middle Ages, it was administered by a viscount. In 1943, it was reoccupied by Jews with the expulsion of the Arab population.