Page 28 - Holyland Magazine - 2025 Edition
P. 28

"Again I will build you and you will be rebuilt"
(Jer. 31:4)

NEW PILGRIMAGE SITES AT

ISRAEL’S NATIONAL
PARKS

Miriam Feinberg Vamosh l Photos: INPA                Ashkelon: Gateway to Southern Israel                An ancient wall at Tel Ashkelon National Park.
                                                     Ashkelon National Park tells a powerful             Photo: Manu Grinspan
Make sure to experience these                        story spanning 4,000 years. Here,
                    new highlights at Israel’s       Samson attacked the Philistines after           You’ll easily imagine Jesus gesturing
                    national parks on your           they threatened his wife and her family         toward Hippos-Sussita saying: “A city set
                    next Holy Land pilgrimage:       (Judges 14:19). Ashkelon, once a Philistine     on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14).
                    At the new visitor center,       powerhouse, thrived again in the Roman          From lookouts set aside for prayer and
Tel Lachish, cutting-edge visual effects             era, leaving behind the ruins of the largest    contemplation, you’ll take in unforgettable
shed new light on fateful biblical events,           basilica discovered so far in the Middle East,  views of all the places you came to Galilee to
while Ashkelon’s ingeniously reconstructed           and in the fourth century, after Christianity   experience – where Jesus gathered disciples
basilica offers a novel look at the roots            defeated paganism, the city’s believers built   and apostles, taught and healed. Hippos-
of Christian architecture. High above the            magnificent churches. After Christianity        Sussita’s inhabitants, along with those of the
Sea of Galilee, Hippos-Sussita’s restored            blossomed, believers quickly outgrew their      other Decapolis cities, likely knew of Jesus’
archaeological marvels bring the Gospels             “house churches” (Acts 2:46, 12:12 and          teachings and miracles (Matthew 4:25).
alive, while the Enot Tsukim Visitor Center          16:40) and adopted the architecture of the      Walking the ancient streets evokes Jesus’
unveils the Dead Sea’s natural wonders. At           former Roman basilica – a vast hall that        parables with an “urban” flavor Matthew.
Caesarea Maritima, be among the first to             pagans once used for public proceedings.        6:5), Nearby hills may have witnessed the
enter “Paul’s prison cell.” To top it all off, join  Ashkelon’s newly reconstructed basilica         miracle of the swine (Matthew 8:28–34),
the innovative program “Touching Time” to            blends ancient statuary and ultra-modern        while the words of Psalm 148 just beg to
restore biblical sites with your own hands.          design to illuminate the roots of later         be recited in this stunning natural setting:
                                                     Christian architecture. Take this opportunity   “Praise the Lord… mountains and hills…
Lachish Visitor Center: Prequel to a                 to continue from Ashkelon, Israel’s southern    wild animals and all cattle.”
Miracle                                              gateway, to visit Negev communities,
At Lachish National Park visitor center,             bond with its people, and encourage their       Enot Tsukim Nature Reserve: Where the
history intertwines with a state-of-the-             resilience as they work to rebuild themselves   Dead Sea Springs to Life
art video experience. This powerful city of          at this fateful time.                           The Israel Nature and Parks Authority has
Judah fell to the Assyrian King Sennacherib,                                                         unveiled a brilliant new visitor center at Enot
who boastfully plastered his palace walls            Hippos-Sussita National Park – “A City on       Tsukim Nature Reserve near the Dead Sea,
with intricate reliefs that immortalized             a Hill”
his vicious conquest – these have been               Towering over the storied Sea of Galilee, at
meticulously reconstructed on the center’s           Hippos-Sussita National Park, over 20 years
walls as an integral part of the presentation.       of excavations have revealed a stunning
Confident of victory, Sennacherib marched            Roman-Byzantine city featuring eight
on to Jerusalem, where an angel of death             churches, a baptistery, intricate mosaics, a
devastated his army, miraculously sparing            Roman forum, a basilica, a theater, and more.
the Holy City (2 Kings 18–19; Isaiah 36–37).         With its new visitor center, touring routes,
                                                     and thoughtfully designed and engaging
Before you tour and touch stones that                signage, the park brings ancient life into
actually witnessed the events, the visitor           vivid focus.
center will take you from the tragic fall
of Lachish to the miraculous survival of
Jerusalem, leaving you awestruck by the
resilience of faith and heritage.

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