Sights and Entertainment

Ashkelon’s seaside National Park (tel. 73 64 44) is one of the most popular and impressive in Israel. The park was built on the site of 1000-year-old Canaanite remains buried under the ruins of Philistine, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Crusader, and Muslim cities. The ruins offer extensive evidence supporting Ashkelon’s reputation as the oldest city in the world-competition for this title rages throughout the Middle East. You can pick up a free map of the park, which includes most of the archeological ruins, at the main entrance. (Park open daily 8am-5pm; Oct.-March 8am-4pm. Closes lhr. earlier on Fri. and holiday eves. NIS10, students NIS5.)

Herod the Great, the Hellenized Jewish king who ruled just before the Romans, was bom in Ashkelon. He enlarged and beautified his birthplace, but the most extensive ruins date from the Roman era. The most compact portion of the site, situated in the center of the park, features a Roman colonnade and a haphazard collection of Hellenistic and Roman columns, capitals, and statues, including two magnificent Roman statues of Nike, the winged goddess of victory and distant relative of Bo Jackson.