Beit She'arim National Park
בית שערים
A World Heritage ancient Jewish burial complex, where hundreds of carved stone sarcophagi lie in rock-cut underground tombs. It is an important site from the Sanhedrin period.
Beit She'arim was the seat of the Jewish Sanhedrin from the 2nd to the 4th century CE. Rabbi Judah HaNasi, who compiled the Mishnah, was buried here, and the site later became a burial place that Jews longed for. It was inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2015. Dozens of underground chambers are cut into the hillside. The largest, the Sarcophagus Cave, displays more than 100 stone sarcophagi decorated with lions, eagles and seven-branched menorahs, with inscriptions in Hebrew, Aramaic and Greek. It is about 20 km from Haifa and is often combined with trips to Daliyat al-Karmel or toward Nazareth.
Opening hours
About 08:00–17:00 (until 16:00 in winter)
Nearby sights
- Muhraka Monastery
- Daliyat al-Karmel
- Hecht Museum
- Mount Carmel National Park
- Ein Hod
- Nahal Me'arot Nature Reserve
- Madatech – Israel National Museum of Science
- Wadi Nisnas