Ruins of ancient buildings in the Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park.

© vblinov/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park

Top choice in Israel


Covering 5 sq km of the Judean Hills, Beit Guvrin-Maresha’s rocky valleys and low hills are home to mountain gazelles, hyenas and songbirds – but most visitors pour in to see the remains of biblical city Maresha and to step inside tombs within bone-white limestone caves. Driving anticlockwise from the entrance, it takes a couple of hours to complete a circuit of the Unesco-listed sites, with time to stop at tombs along the way; allow half a day if you want to embark on walking trails.

On a 30m-high hill, the Tel Maresha site (near car park B) shows the remains of city walls that stood for more than eight centuries, between the 9th and 1st centuries BCE, plus the foundations of a large villa (dating to the end of that period). Continuing along the park road to car park C you’ll reach the breathtaking Sidonian Caves, where ancient Maresha’s most illustrious citizens were buried. Stepping inside, you’ll see meticulously restored wall paintings of animals, fish and urns. Among the tantalising archaeological discoveries here is the much-debated inscription, ‘I am sleeping with someone else, but it is you I love’.

Further along the road, a walking trail leads to the ruin of Crusader-era St Anne’s Church, whose name was preserved as ‘Sandahanna’ by local Arabic peoples. Towards the exit of the park are the Bell Caves, whose voluptuous shapes were chiselled by quarriers during the Byzantine and early Islamic periods.

Leaving the park, just west on the opposite side of the highway is a petrol station; nearby are the weather-beaten remnants of a Roman amphitheatre and a 4000-sq-metre bathhouse.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Israel attractions

1. Hebron Glass and Ceramics Factory

12.5 MILES

This factory on the outskirts of Hebron, on the main road into the city from the north, has been in the Natsheh family for 350 years. Visitors can observe…

2. Soreq Cave

12.76 MILES

Thousands of spindly stalactites hang within this 4800-sq-metre cave, with illuminations in blue and violet adding to the sense of enchantment. A short…

3. Ibrahimi Mosque/Tomb of the Patriarchs

13.84 MILES

The focal point of Hebron for most visitors is the Tomb of the Patriarchs (Cave of Machpelah), known to Muslims as Ibrahimi Mosque (Ibrahim is the Muslim…

4. Museum of Bedouin Culture

15.33 MILES

A good introduction to Bedouin life in the Negev. Exhibits include traditional clothes, household utensils, carpets, tools and jewellery as well as…

5. Latrun Monastery

16.78 MILES

Visitors arrive at Latrun Monastery not only for peaceful contemplation and a peep into the church, but also the chance to buy olive oil and wine made by…

6. Mini Israel

17.22 MILES

More than 380 of Israel's major sights are shrunk to Lilliputian proportions at this cheerful and child-friendly amusement park. Pathways lead you among…

7. Solomon’s Pools

17.26 MILES

During Roman times, a series of natural springs filled three mammoth rectangular reservoirs supplying water via aqueducts to Jerusalem and Herodium. King…

8. Museum of Palestinian Heritage

17.31 MILES

This impressive museum in the new complex of buildings opposite Soloman's Pools is the personal collection of one man, Ishaq al Hroub, who gathered this…

  • placement: superzone
  • path: Destinations/POIs/superzone
  • possible size: [970, 250], [970, 90], [728, 90], [1, 1],
  • targeting:
    {
      "url": "israel/judean-hills/attractions/beit-guvrin-maresha-national-park/a/poi-sig/1192879/1332230",
      "destination": "Israel",
      "continent": "Middle-East",
      "country": "Israel",
      "position": "superzone"
    }