Beit Guvrin

Beit Guvrin

When looking for a place to spend a day , or even just a half day touring, especially if you live in Beit Shemesh, there aren't many places better than Beit Guvrin National Park. It's close proximity makes it ideal, as well as having something for everyone.The park includes various different cave systems to crawl through and explore, as well as plenty that can be walked into, several convenient parking areas, full restroom facilities, gift shops and most importantly, plenty of history. Children of all ages can enjoy going into one cave and popping out somewhere else, as many are connected.

There is the section of the park known as Maresha which is partially an active archaeological site, run by “Archaeological Seminars” also known as “Dig for a Day”. This is one of the only places- if not the only – where a tourist (local or foreign) can actively participate in all stages of a dig. I can tell you from personal experience that this is fun and educational for pretty much anyone, regardless of age or background. Side note; for some reason the coolest discoveries are usually made by 6-8 year old girls.

The reason this is possible is due to the fact that the area of Maresha was abandoned once and never resettled and as such is all from one time frame. The period of time in question is approximately that of the Macabees, which at least in my opinion makes this all the more interesting. In fact one of the items discovered there is the Stellae Heliodorous which confirms the Macabees existence and is on display in the Israel Museum. (for more info on the importance of this , I recommend you contact a local tour guide.)

In the other parts of the park are also numerous hiking trails, ruins of Byzantine Architecture, an underground columbarium, or dovecote, olive oil factory, and the Sidonian Burial caves. The burial caves have some truly beautiful artwork painted inside and date back to around the 2nd century BCE.

A different part of the park contains the truly beautiful an somewhat astounding Bell Caves, recognized by UNESCO as an International Heritage site. There is no place else in the world like this. As a result there were actually several movies and television shows over the years that used them as a location. Most notable would probably be Rambo III , and back in 1973, J.C. Superstar. These are not naturally formed, but man-made. There are noticeable chisel marks all the way down. These caves have some carvings on the wall from Jews, Moslems, and Christians, which is how we know they were occupied much later than Tel Maresha.

When you exit this area of the park and cross the street (Rt 35) behind the gas station is the part of the park from which it gets it's name. The ruins of Beit Guvrin also known as Beit Jubrin in the Arabic pronunciation or Eleutheropolis in Greek/Latin. The first thing you come to after a small display of the archaeological method is the large amphitheatre, complete with trapdoors in the middle to release wild animals. You can enter into hallways behind the scenes where gladiators would have gotten ready to risk their lives on the sand. It's also always fun to stage a mock battle using toy swords and shields, This amphitheatre is still used today from time to time for various events. (FYI the “amphi” in Beit Shemesh is actually not an Amphitheatre but a theatre at best )

Beyond this we can explore the ruins of the ancient city. There are roman columns, and a roman bathhouse under the large villa. There are a lot of Byzantine era and Crusader era ruins as well most built on top of one another. This was for a time the home of the 9th and then the 10th legions of Rome. There is a point , just inside the first doorway where you can go up to a lookout point above the city to get a view of it in its entirety.

This city was occupied as recently as the early ottoman period. For this reason there is a pedestal that appears much like a sundial at the entrance to the villa. This was used for determining the direction of prayer.

I hope this gives all who read it a taste of what is to be seen and experienced so close to home.