Beit Guvrin Caves

UNESCO World Heritage site with Roman-era wine production caves. Hundreds of man-made caves served as columbaria (pigeon houses), olive presses, and wine cellars. The Bell Caves are particularly spectacular.

What to do there

5 things to do

1. 1 Stand in the Arena Where Gladiators Died for Septimius Severus History · Price: low

   Where: Roman Amphitheater, north section of the park (Site 12), accessed via Parking Lot E off Route 35. The structure stands on the northwest edge of ancient Eleutheropolis — you'll see it from the road.

   What: In 200 CE, Emperor Septimius Severus renamed this city Eleutheropolis — 'City of Freemen' — and gave it full Roman colony status with ius italicum (the same rights as Italian soil). To celebrate, they built this: an elliptical limestone amphitheater, 71 × 56 meters, seating 3,500 spectators in 11 rows. It is the best-preserved Roman amphitheater in all of Israel. Gladiators and wild animals were held in underground apses beneath the arena floor, entering through a sacellum — a room of worship where they performed pre-combat rituals before their possible death. The Crusaders came in 1136 AD and cannibalized the Roman walls to build their own fortress on top. It has been 2,000 years of civilization stacking on civilization on this exact spot.

   How: Open 8am–5pm (4pm winter), 29 NIS adults / 15 NIS children. Walk down to the arena floor and stand in the center — face north and imagine the 11 tiers of limestone seats filled. Then find the underground entrance to the gladiator waiting room (marked). Touch the barrel-vault stonework that held human lives in suspense before sending them into the light. Photography is best in morning light from the south end looking north.

   Backup: If the underground sections are temporarily closed for conservation, the arena floor and seating tiers remain fully accessible. The Crusader church apse (St. Anne's, 1136 AD) is a 2-minute walk and uses Roman column capitals as decorative elements — you can literally touch ancient Rome embedded in medieval masonry.

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2. 2 Descend into the Underground City That Died in 112 BC History · Price: low

   Where: Tel Maresha cave complex, south section of the park (cross under Route 35 to reach it). Start at the Sidonian Burial Cave — it is signposted from the main path after the park entrance.

   What: The Hellenistic city of Maresha had a secret: it was built in two layers. Above ground, Greek-style city blocks with houses and shops. Below — a labyrinth of 500+ caves cut into soft chalk bedrock: cisterns, olive presses, stables, tombs, grain silos, and columbaria with 50,000 pigeon niches stacked floor-to-ceiling. This wasn't just storage. The columbaria (pigeon towers) were a three-pronged industrial system: pigeon meat as food, pigeon eggs, and pigeon guano as the most potent natural fertilizer in the ancient world — nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium together. Those caves fertilized the vineyards that fed the city. Then find the Sidonian Burial Cave (Apollophanes Cave). Apollophanes, son of Sesmaeus, was a Phoenician merchant from Sidon (modern Lebanon) who led the Sidonian community here for 33 years. His family tomb is painted in full Hellenistic color: a rhinoceros, giraffe, and lion walking in procession (how did a Judean hill-town know what a rhinoceros looked like?); three-headed Cerberus guarding the underworld; a phoenix. These are unique — the only vibrant Hellenistic frescoes in Israel. In 112 BCE, John Hyrcanus of the Hasmonean dynasty conquered Maresha, forcibly converted everyone to Judaism, and destroyed the city. The destruction ash layer in the dig is half a meter thick. The caves sealed for 2,000 years.

   How: Budget 90 minutes for Tel Maresha caves. Entry included in 29 NIS park fee. The Sidonian Cave requires a small flashlight (some have low-level lighting). Best with park map from Visitor Center. Walk the Oil Press Cave too — see the 2,300-year-old olive press mechanism still in place, one of 27 found in Maresha alone.

   Backup: If Sidonian Cave has restricted entry (conservation), the Columbarium Cave is always open and shows the pigeon-niche system at full scale — 2,000 visible niches in one cave.

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3. 3 Shout Inside a Cathedral the Byzantines Quarried by Hand Adventure · Free

   Where: The Bell Caves, south section of the park — follow signs from the main cave complex. They are on flat ground and accessible by the marked trail.

   What: Between the 4th and 9th centuries CE, Byzantine quarrymen developed a technique that accidentally created architecture. They found a hard limestone cap over soft chalk bedrock. They punched a hole roughly 1 meter wide through the cap, then quarried downward — but soft chalk means they could widen as they descended. The result: perfect bell shapes, 8–18 meters high, with a small round skylight at the top flooding the interior with a single column of light. 800 of these caves exist in this park alone; 2,000 in the wider region. Groups of 40–50 are connected by underground passageways. The largest is 18 meters (60 feet) tall. Its acoustics are so extraordinary it has been used as a concert venue. Early Arab quarrymen of the 7th–10th centuries scratched prayers in the walls — you can read them. Crusaders also used the caves for storage after they built their fortress overhead.

   How: Included in 29 NIS park entry. Walk in, stop, and say something. The echo in the largest cave is cathedral-quality. Look up at the circular skylight — the single column of light dropping 18 meters to the chalk floor is the moment. Morning visits before 10am give the best light shaft. Bring water; cave temperature stays cool (~18°C) even in August heat outside.

   Backup: Even if you can only access the smaller caves (which are always open), the effect is the same — the bell geometry, the chalk walls, the filtered light. The smaller caves feel more intimate.

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4. 4 Sift Ancient Soil for 2,200-Year-Old Pottery Shards Adventure · Price: moderate · Optional

   Where: 'Dig for a Day' excavation site within Beit Guvrin National Park. Book in advance at digforaday.com. Meet at the park at the designated time — groups begin at set times each morning.

   What: The Archaeological Seminars Institute runs this under the Israel Antiquities Authority — meaning you're working a real excavation site, not a simulation. The cave complexes at Maresha have never been fully excavated. The Hellenistic destruction layer from 112 BCE is still being uncovered. You dig with real tools, sift soil through large sieves, and handle artifacts that haven't been touched since the Hasmonean army burned this place. The experience is about 3 hours and ends with a flashlight crawl through an unexcavated cave section. The connection to wine: olive jars, wine amphorae shards, and seal impressions from Hellenistic Maresha have been found here — hundreds of them. In 2018, archaeologists discovered hundreds of Hellenistic-period seal impressions in a single archive here, documenting the commercial life of a city trading wine and oil across the ancient Mediterranean. You may be sifting through the same archive.

   How: Adults 95 NIS, children (5–18) 72 NIS — park entry fee (29/15 NIS) is NOT included, pay separately at the gate. Book at digforaday.com, available year-round including most weather. Wear old clothes. Duration ~3 hours. The site is 'ancestral home of King Herod' — Herod the Great was of Edomite descent, and Edomites were the dominant people of Maresha before John Hyrcanus converted them.

   Backup: If Dig for a Day sessions are full or not running that day, the free-access cave systems with park entry still deliver the discovery feeling — the Oil Press Cave and Columbarium give you the same underground industrial Hellenistic world.

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5. 5 Taste the Wine Named After the River That Runs Through These Caves Wine · Price: moderate

   Where: Maresha Estate Winery, Meshek 36, Moshav Zrahya (Zarchia), D.N. South Lachish 79520. ~5 km from the park entrance heading southeast on Route 35 toward the Lachish area. Contact before visiting: +972-8-858-4494 or office@maresha.co.il / maresha.co.il

   What: The winery is deliberately named after the Hellenistic city you just walked through. Their flagship wine is called 'Nahal Guvrin' — Nahal Guvrin is the river that runs through the valley below those same 2,300-year-old caves. The vineyards are on the same Judean Shephelah hillsides above the same chalk bedrock the Hellenistic residents farmed to produce wine and olive oil for trade across the Mediterranean. Here's what nobody tells you: the Judean Shephelah produced wine continuously from the Bronze Age through the Byzantine period — then fell silent for 1,300 years under Islamic prohibition. The revival began in 1882 with Rothschild at Zichron Yaakov. Maresha Winery represents the generation that finally brought the Shephelah back. The 'Nahal Guvrin' is a Pinotage-Syrah blend with aromas of red fruits, truffle, and Mediterranean herbs — a Levantine character you will not find at any winery outside this valley. When you drink it, you're drinking the Judean foothills — the same soil the Sidonian traders of Apollophanes farmed, the same chalk those Byzantine quarrymen turned into the Bell Caves, the same valley where 3,500 Romans once cheered at the amphitheater 2 km away.

   How: Contact winery to arrange tasting visit — kosher family winery, advance coordination required. Tasting typically includes 4–6 wines. Priced for serious wine visitors, not mass tourism — this is layer 3. Budget 60–90 minutes. Ask specifically for the Nahal Guvrin and any Chenin Blanc in the range.

   Backup: If the winery is unavailable that day, purchase Maresha Winery bottles at specialty wine shops in Jerusalem (Mahane Yehuda market has vendors carrying boutique Israeli wines). Open the Nahal Guvrin on the hillside above Tel Maresha — no restaurant in the world offers that pairing.

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