holy land tour, day eight : the old city and beth guvrin national park

 

Gosh, I loved the Old City of Jerusalem. It’s the kind of place that makes you want to just meander slowly through the alleyways, watching the people go by and wondering what their lives are like. Orthodox Jews, beggars, shopkeepers, street musicians, stray cats—so many things to take in and observe!

We left Jerusalem around lunchtime for the Beth Guvrin-Maresha National Park area, which has a large excavation of a Roman city called Eleutheropolis (the only site we’ve been to that had a gladiatorial arena) and the Bell Caves at Maresha, the place of King Asa’s defeat of the Ethiopian army in 2 Chronicles 14:9ff.

I couldn’t help taking advantage of the sunlight pouring through openings in the cave ceilings—it was pretty awesome portrait lighting. :)