Nimrod Castle, Banias and Beit a Galil Nature Reserve
1 day tour
Description
We offer to visit the most mysterious and beautiful places of Israel located in the upper Galilee.
You will visit the well-preserved ancient castle of Nimrod, as well as the ancient city of Banias, located near the river Banias, named after the ancient Greek god Pana.
Walk along the picturesque stream in the shade of trees, admire the most beautiful waterfall in Israel, visit the Catholic centre of Beit HaGhalil.
The first point of our visit will be Nimrod Castle.
Nimrod Castle offers breathtaking views of the Hulu Valley. There are at least five versions of the castle. Until recently, it was believed that Nimrod was one of the Crusader strongholds.
After recent archaeological excavations, an inscription in Arabic was found, cast in stone, which states that the fortress of Nimrod was built on the orders of Saladin’s nephew in the 12th century AD. However, legends say that its builder was the great ruler of Mesopotamia Nimrod, as evidenced by the name of the fortress - Nimrod.
Could it have been built before the flood by one of the extinct ancient civilizations, as evidenced by the megalithic stones that lie in the base and are scattered around the castle of Nimrod? Maybe each of them has left their mark in its construction?!
In any case, this place will impress you indelibly. Mark Twain, at the beginning of the last century, singled out Twain as one of the most interesting places in the Middle East when he arrived in Israel.
Then we will walk through the equally interesting and mysterious Banias Sanctuary. Walk along the river Banias on suspension bridges in the cool shade of trees, see the ruins of the ancient Greek temple, the remains of the palace of the Jewish kings, the Roman bridge, the cave of Pana and the small but very beautiful waterfall of Banias. This place was named by the ancients after the ancient Greek god Pan - son of Hermes, hence Panias and the distorted pronunciation of Banias.We will tell the official and our version of why the river and the ancient city on its shore were named after the deity that is spreading panic among the ancient shepherds and farmers.
And finally, we will visit the modern but no less impressive place of Beit HaGhalil. The Latin name of Beit Hagalil is Domus Galilaeae. If you don’t know where you are, you can think of Domus Galilaeae as a space research center with transparent domes, spacious air-conditioned rooms, halls, fountains and artificial waterfalls. In fact, it is a Catholic religious center, which was founded at the initiative of Pope Paul on the 6th, and which was not accidentally located over the Mountain of Bliss with a magnificent view of Cyheret, where Jesus Christ preached and performed miracles. But apart from its architectural value, Domus Galeli is interested in the human factor, namely, the meeting with the hospitable students from different countries - the future priests who study here the Old Testament and the New Testament in the first source in Hebrew, and are pleased to communicate with visitors, they talk about their lives and sing with the accompaniment of the guitar "Shma Izrael".
The length of the walking part along the Banias River is 1.5-2 hours.
The complexity of the route is easy.
Getting back
Description
We offer to visit the most mysterious and beautiful places of Israel located in the upper Galilee.
You will visit the well-preserved ancient castle of Nimrod, as well as the ancient city of Banias, located near the river Banias, named after the ancient Greek god Pana.
Walk along the picturesque stream in the shade of trees, admire the most beautiful waterfall in Israel, visit the Catholic centre of Beit HaGhalil.
The first point of our visit will be Nimrod Castle.
Nimrod Castle offers breathtaking views of the Hulu Valley. There are at least five versions of the castle. Until recently, it was believed that Nimrod was one of the Crusader strongholds.
After recent archaeological excavations, an inscription in Arabic was found, cast in stone, which states that the fortress of Nimrod was built on the orders of Saladin’s nephew in the 12th century AD. However, legends say that its builder was the great ruler of Mesopotamia Nimrod, as evidenced by the name of the fortress - Nimrod.
Could it have been built before the flood by one of the extinct ancient civilizations, as evidenced by the megalithic stones that lie in the base and are scattered around the castle of Nimrod? Maybe each of them has left their mark in its construction?!
In any case, this place will impress you indelibly. Mark Twain, at the beginning of the last century, singled out Twain as one of the most interesting places in the Middle East when he arrived in Israel.
Then we will walk through the equally interesting and mysterious Banias Sanctuary. Walk along the river Banias on suspension bridges in the cool shade of trees, see the ruins of the ancient Greek temple, the remains of the palace of the Jewish kings, the Roman bridge, the cave of Pana and the small but very beautiful waterfall of Banias. This place was named by the ancients after the ancient Greek god Pan - son of Hermes, hence Panias and the distorted pronunciation of Banias.We will tell the official and our version of why the river and the ancient city on its shore were named after the deity that is spreading panic among the ancient shepherds and farmers.
And finally, we will visit the modern but no less impressive place of Beit HaGhalil. The Latin name of Beit Hagalil is Domus Galilaeae. If you don’t know where you are, you can think of Domus Galilaeae as a space research center with transparent domes, spacious air-conditioned rooms, halls, fountains and artificial waterfalls. In fact, it is a Catholic religious center, which was founded at the initiative of Pope Paul on the 6th, and which was not accidentally located over the Mountain of Bliss with a magnificent view of Cyheret, where Jesus Christ preached and performed miracles. But apart from its architectural value, Domus Galeli is interested in the human factor, namely, the meeting with the hospitable students from different countries - the future priests who study here the Old Testament and the New Testament in the first source in Hebrew, and are pleased to communicate with visitors, they talk about their lives and sing with the accompaniment of the guitar "Shma Izrael".
The length of the walking part along the Banias River is 1.5-2 hours.
The complexity of the route is easy.