Saturday was a day of leisure, greatly appreciated by everybody.
Some of us walked down to the Jaffa Gate and into the Old City to browse in the shops.
Others stayed at the hotel and had a lovely day of rest…
The Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park.
I (Sylvia) was blessed to be picked up by my friend Andy who has lived in a kibbutz for the last 30 years and wanted to show me around.
We went to the caves of Maresha and Bet Guvrin - a National Park that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The ancient cities of Maresha and Bet Guvrin are located near the crossroads of the trade routes connecting Mesopotamia and Egypt and they attest to the variety of cultures in the region and their continuous development over almost 2000 years.
The caves are located beneath and nearby these cities.
The Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park encompasses all the elements found in the thousands of caves that are scattered throughout the Land of the Caves and Hiding Places in the Judean lowlands.
Oh…how I wish that I had more time to spend here… one can actually hike through this park but you can also drive from site to site. So much to see…so little time!
We first went to see The Columbarium Cave - an installation to raise doves.
The raising of doves was very common in the Judean lowlands during the Hellenistic period. Doves were used extensively, their meat and eggs as food and their droppings as fertilizer. Doves were used in sacrifices and in rituals. In Maresha alone, some 85 columbarium caves have been discovered, with tens of thousands of niches.
Absolutely fascinating...so perfectly constructed...
The one that we went into (underground) had 2000 niches of its
own. I was amazed at the geometric symmetry…
Next, we went to the Sidonian Caves - specifically the Apollophanaes Cave.
This was a family tomb.
And...No...this was not the family...just some (happy) tourists we encountered...
St. Anne’s Church.
This church was built during the Byzantine period. In the Crusader period, the church was restored. It was named after Anne, the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus.
The Bell Caves.
Lastly, I had the privilege of exploring The Bell Caves.
These caves were hewn during the Byzantine period and Early Muslim periods. The caves were used mainly as quarries and provided building materials for cities on the coastal plains and for Bet Guvrin itself.
The Bell caves were dug out through the holes that you see in the ceiling of the cave. Imagine slaves going down on ropes to dig this out by the bucket load. These caves are bigger than the Cathedrals in Europe
The acoustics were incredible inside the caves. I really was awestruck by the beauty of it all…
What a special outing! Thank you Andy.
Ben Yehuda Street.
That night we walked as a group to Ben Yehuda Street. Having been the Sabbath, every Jewish shop had been closed from Friday at sunset to Saturday evening (once the second star appears in the sky - which happened at approximately 7.30pm).
It is at this time that everything comes to life as all the Jewish establishments open their doors and Ben Yehuda becomes a beautiful night market.
Coffee shops, restaurants, all the stores you can think of…
We suddenly became aware of singing and following the sound, we came upon a large Korean choir who had randomly set up and started to sing praise and worship songs in their language and a substantial crowd had collected. It was wonderful…
Well, finally it was time to go back home…we made our way back to the train/tram and went back to the Olive Tree Hotel.
Thank you Pastor Robert and Pastor Edith for blessing us!
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