Bet Alfa - Bet Alfa

Bet Alfa (Hebrew בֵּית אַלְפָא; also Beit Alfa or Bet Alpha or. Beit Alpha) is a kibbutz im Bet She'an Valley in the northern Israel. In the same name israeli national park the visitor will find a well-preserved large-scale floor mosaic of a synagogue from the Byzantine period.

background

Bet Alfa is a kibbutz at the foot of the GilboaMountain range in the western Bet She'an Valley, which was founded in the 1920s. It is in the immediate vicinity of the kibbutz Cheftziba (also Heftziba or Hefzi Bah). It is here - and not in Bet Alfa itself - that it is Bet Alfa Synagogue National Park.

getting there

By train

The Bet-She'an-Tal can be reached again by train from autumn 2016 (there was a branch line of the Hejaz Railway). For the journey directly to Bet Alfa only the bus remains.

By bus

The Kavim bus line 412 serves the route Afula - Bet She'an and also stops at Cheftziba and Bet Alfa (see signposts).

It is not recommended to take the faster Kavim line 411 (also Afula-Bet She'an), as the next stop on this line (Beit HaShita Junction) is on the main road 71 and is about 3 km away.

Of	Bus routes	Connection density during the day	Duration approx.	Price NIS	Hints
Afula	412*	every 40 min	30 min
Bet She'an	412*	every 40 min	30 min
Notes: Individual lines may be missing in the table (e.g. if they rarely run). The bar density refers to all available connections. The links in the table are used for travel planning, so they lead to the Arrival information of the linked location. Swell: Egged and Otobusim.co.il; Status: 10/2011 - * Lines with a star are not served by Egged, but by another company.

In the street

Bet Alfa is south of road 71 from Afula to Bet She'an. At the height of Bet hashita, take road 669 south and after a short time you will reach Cheftziba and Bet Alfa.

Afula can be reached from the country centers (Tel Aviv and the coast) by taking streets 2, 4 or 6 to about Hadera north and then take road 65 north-east.

Bet She'an can be reached from Lake genezareth across road 90 to the south, from Jerusalem over the streets 1 in the east to Jericho and then on road 90 north; in this case change to road 669 shortly before Bet She'an.

mobility

One moves around on foot.

Tourist Attractions

The central attraction is the aforementioned national park:

You can see a large mosaic floor from the Byzantine period (5th century), which was discovered by chance by members of Kibbutz Cheftziba in 1928 and excavated in 1929. In addition to the main room, the historic building had an atrium and a narrow vestibule. The mosaic is in the middle part of the main room; it consists of three major sections. The part near the apse shows the Ark of the Covenant surrounded by lions, birds and seven-armed candlesticks, in the middle part is the zodiac with the sun god Helios in the center and four women who represent the seasons in the corners; the third part depicts the sacrifice of Isaac. After the excavation, the remains of the former three-aisled synagogue were rebuilt with an air-conditioned building to protect the floor from the weather.

You can see the system today from footbridges that are led above the level of the ground; the building is suitable for wheelchair users. There is also a short film.

Bet Alfa is easy to visit as part of a side trip, as you don't need too much time to see it; A combination with visits to Gan hashloscha and or Bet She'an.

activities

shop

kitchen

In Cheftziba there is a restaurant that offers fish as a specialty:

nightlife

accommodation

There is a small kibbutz hotel in Bet Alfa:

health

Practical advice

trips

In the direction east can be reached after a short drive Gan hashloscha with its warm springs and the excavations of Bet She'an with impressive relics from Roman and Byzantine times.

in the west lies by Gid'ona Ma'ajan Harod National Park, im south extends with the mountains of Gilboa a popular hiking area.

literature

Web links