Beit Guvrin Caves

Beit Guvrin is a significant archaeological site located 60 kilometers south of Jerusalem in southern Israel. Beit Guvrin National Park contains 5,000 dunams and includes the ruins of Tel Maresha, an ancient city. The site has a turbulent history dating back to the First Temple Period and up to the present day, but for many visitors, the spectacular caverns of Beit Guvrin are the main draw.

The Crusaders renovated St. Anne's Church in the 1100s, but it dates back to the Byzantine era. Today, a magnificent high semi-circular domed stone construction may be seen. The painted Greek Sidonian burial caverns, which date from the 3rd to 1st centuries BC, are another fantastic find in Beit Guvrin. The Beit Guvrin Sidonian community's leaders' graves are artistically adorned, with burial niches on both sides of the caves and a bed-like structure at one end for the Sidonian patriarch.

A 200BC Columbarium (a facility where pigeons were bred for meat and for their droppings, which were used as fertilizer) was also unearthed at the site. It spans 30 meters and contains about 2,000 niches where the pigeons would have been housed. On a more positive side, Beit Gurvin's stunning Roman amphitheater, which can seat 3,500 people and is one of only four in Israel, is one of the most beautiful in the country.

Location: Lakhish, Beit Guvrin, Israel