THE ISRAEL I SAW

 Here is the complete list of sites that I have visited in Israel, excluding Jerusalem which is discussed separately in the previous post. Apart from the popular sites in Israel that almost every tourist makes a point to visit, I had the privilege to explore around 32 National Parks and 17 National Reserves, which was a great opportunity to know the land of Israel. The National Parks were visited mostly on my own depending mainly the public transport system, whereas I owe immense debt of gratitude to the one-day hiking trips (usually 8 to 10 km) organised by Midreshet Hiking Club of Sede Boker for the National Reserves. I made it certain that all the sites mentioned in the official brochure of the National Parks are covered. However, in this list, I have enumerated the highlights of only those sites whose attractions are spread in a large area, eg. Timnah Park, Beit Guvrin National Park etc. Regarding the other sites, where the attractions are confined to a relatively smaller geographical area, the highlights are not separately given in the list, nevertheless, they are elaborately discussed in the blog, eg. Caesarea National Park, Masada National Park etc.

1.  Acco or Acre

a.      Bahai Garden

b.     Burj el-Khasla

c.      City Walls

d.     Crusader Fortress (The Citadel)-Knights Hall

e.      Great Mosque of Ahmed el Jazzar

f.      Khan al-Umdan (Hostel of Pillars)

g.     Lighthouse

h.     Marina

i.       Old City

j.       Pisan Port

k.     Sea Gate

l.       Sea Wall Promenade

m.   St. John Catholic Church

n.     Tell Akko (view)

o.     Templars Tunnel

2.     Antipatris National Park or Tel Aphek

a.      Hayarkon

b.     Migdal Aphek

THE JERUSALEM I SAW

Compiling the list of all the sites that I had visited in Jerusalem might be helpful in locating them in the blog. However, a few of them could not be visited for various reasons such as they were not open to the public or was difficult to reach. Nevertheless, I still managed to get their exterior views, and sometimes I used elevated positions or observation points to get a better view- such venues are bracketed by adding ’exterior view only’. For instance, Akeldama-deep inside the Hinnom Valley was not visited, but it was possible to observe the site very nicely from the Church of St. Peter in Gallicantu. In addition, only the sites that I could manage to photograph are included, for example there are a few chapels in the Church of Holy Sepulchre that are not open to the visitors, and they have not been listed here. In the case of important sites, highlights of the spots visited are separately listed for a better understanding, eg. Church of Holy Sepulchre, Temple Mount, Western Wall Tunnels etc.

CHRISTIAN

1.      Akeldama/Field of Blood/Potter’s Field (exterior view only)

2.      Armenian Cemetery (exterior view only)

3.      Armenian Quarter-General

4.      Basilica of St. Stephen or Basilica Etienne (Catholic), East Jerusalem

5.      Birthplace of Virgin Mary & House of St. Anne and St. Joachim (Greek Orthodox)