Page 77 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - Israel & Petra

Around Jerusalem ❮❮ 75

Abu Ghosh
1
MAP F4 • 10 miles (16 km)
W of Jerusalem • Superbus 185
• Crusader Church: open 8:30–11am
& 2:30–7pm Mon–Wed, Fri, & Sun;
Notre Dame de l’Arche de l’Alliance:
open 8:30–11:30am & 2:30–5pm
The Crusaders believed this now
Israeli-Arab village to be Emmaus,
where Christ appeared after his
resurrection, and so the Knights
Hospitallers built a Romanesque
church here in the 12th century – it
still stands, almost unchanged. On
top of the hill is the Church of Notre
Dame de l’Arche de l’Alliance, built
in 1924 over a Byzantine church.
Russian Monastery, Ein Kerem
Beit Guvrin-Maresha
2 Ein Kerem
National Park
MAP F4 • 4 miles (7 km) W of
MAP G3 • Off Route 35, 33 miles 3
AROUND JERUSALEM (53 km) SW of Jerusalem • www. Jerusalem • Light Rail, then Egged
parks.org.il bus 28 from Har Herzl
This undulating park is riddled with Tradition holds that Ein Kerem
a network of caves. Quarried since was the home of John the Baptist.
Phoenician times, it has small sur- Churches commemorating his life
face holes revealing spiral staircases, dot the village, the most striking
water cisterns, burial chambers, and being the Russian Monastery with
columbaria. The ancient Judaean its golden onion domes. Artisans’
city of Tel Maresha is little more than studios are sprinkled around the
a mound, but the burial caves of its village and the surrounding hills
Sidonian citizens bear painted friezes make for pleasant walking. This is
depicting hunters and musicians. the perfect place to visit on Shabbat,
The apse of the Crusader Church of when the churches remain open.
St. Anne is striking, while the Bell
Hebron
Caves are carved with Christian and 4
Arabic inscriptions. The remains of a MAP G4 • 25 miles (40 km) S of
Roman amphitheater can be seen Jerusalem, West Bank • Egged bus 160
opposite the park entrance. Political tension is ever present
in this populous town,
divided between an Arab
majority and hard core
Jewish settlers. Most
areas are controlled by
the Palestinian Authority
and international peace-
keepers; others are
patrolled by the Israeli
military. The Cave of
Machpelah/Ibrahimi
Mosque is split between
the two reli gions (see
p78). The Arab markets
and old souk offer respite
and a chance to buy the
Caves, Beit Guvrin-Maresha National Park famed local glassware.

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