Story posted: Friday, 24. July 2009 by Rafael Ben-Ari

Ashkelon National Park, on the southern Mediterranean coast, encompasses history and heritage thousands of years old. Ashkelon was a thriving commercial center whose star rose highest in the Roman period, and the park showcases impressive remains from that period, among them marble and granite columns and capitals, the Roman basilica and statues of the goddesses who were the patrons of the city.In the northeastern part of the park is its most outstanding find: the Middle Bronze Age gate, with the earliest arch in the world, dating to approximately 1800 BCE.The park also contains a system of about 60 wells of different types and borders on a beautiful beach, open during swimming season.The view from massive ancient glacis, topped by the ruins of a wall from the Fatimid era (mid-12th century) in the eastern part of the park, takes in the park, the dunes to the south and the modern city of Ashkelon. Photo by Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye.

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