The Sharon Plain (also Sharon plain, Hebrew עמק שרון - Emek Sharon) extends along the israeli Mediterranean coast between Greater Tel Aviv and the Carmel Mountains.
The most famous destination of the region is the former Roman provincial capital Caesarea, now an important archaeological park.
Regional breakdown
The Sharon Plain is a fertile, flat stretch of land south of the Carmel Mountains begins and runs along the Mediterranean to the northern edge Tel Avivs extends. The southernmost part of the geographical region already belongs to the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv, so to the so-called "Gush Dan". In the east the plain borders on the mountainous region of Samaria, that for West Bank belongs.
In this narrow strip of land, some of the main Israeli arteries run in a north-south direction, which carry traffic between the economic center around the Gush Dan and the northern parts of the country with the port city Haifa take up.
places
- Hadera or Hadera, founded in 1891, is an important industrial city (paper, power station with chimneys on the coast that can be seen from afar)
- Netanya (Netanya) has a beautiful beach and two nature reserves; Agriculture and industry (diamonds) are important economic factors.
- Herzliya near the crusader ruins Arsuf was named after Theodor Herzl.
In the very south, in the core area of the metropolitan area around Tel Aviv, there are some other cities that are geographically already outside the Sharon Plain (the Jarkon River in northern Tel Aviv is considered the southern border of the region):
- Bnei Berak is a city inhabited mainly by ultra-Orthodox Jews.
- In Ramat Gan stands the tallest building in Israel; the City gate is 224 m high.
- Petach Tikva was founded at the end of the 19th century; at that time the place was the first Jewish agricultural settlement of private farmers (Moshava) in Palestine; meanwhile the place is a big city with industry.
- Tel Aviv is the second largest city in Israel and the most important economic center in the country.
Other goals
- Caesarea is one of the most important archaeological sites in the country; there are ruins from Roman and Crusader times, among other things.
background
The Sharon Plain is an area that is very easily swamped; therefore it was often only sparsely populated in history (although people have already left their first traces here in prehistoric times). At the turn of the ages, in the time of Herod the Great, the swamps were drained and the population increased significantly. Later the trenches crumbled, the area swamped again, and malaria spread. Therefore, only a few people lived in the Sharon Plain at the beginning of the 19th century. The first immigration of Jewish settlers (1st Aliyah), supported by the Rothschild family, began to drain the swamps. Today the Sharon Plain is an extremely fertile and densely populated area, where citrus fruits, among other things, are grown.
language
The vast majority of the population in the plain is Jewish, so that Hebrew is predominantly spoken and Arabic hardly plays a role. Generally speaking, however, you get along well with English.
getting there
By plane
There is no airport in the Sharon Plain. The preferred airport for arrival is the international one Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv.
From there you can reach the Sharon Plain by train if you change to the suburban train to Binjamina in Tel Aviv - the intercity trains from the airport to Haifa usually stop during the day Not between Tel Aviv and Binjamina. If you want to use buses for the onward journey, you should take the train to Tel Aviv - haHagana and from there walk westwards to the Central Bus Station (approx. 400 m walk).
By train
From Tel Aviv, trains run north along the Sharon Plain towards Haifa. During the day, usually only the frequent trains of the suburban line stay behind Binjamina for the journey. The trains in the direction of Haifa and Naharija mostly go to Binjamina by. The suburban line stops in Herzlija, Netanya and Hadera. The train station for Caesarea and Pardes Chana is several kilometers from the excavations!
By bus
The larger towns in the region, especially Hadera, Netanja and Herzlija, are approached from many places outside the region. There are direct connections to one or more of the cities mentioned, e.g. from Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem and the Sea of Galilee.
In the street
Roads 2 (motorway) and 4 (multi-lane country road, a little further inland) run from Tel Aviv parallel to the coast through the plain to Haifa in the north. On the eastern edge of the Sharon Plain, road 6 also runs in a north-south direction; it enables the bypassing of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area in the east towards Jerusalem, in the north it leads to the Carmel Mountains. There the three streets with the street 70 also have a connection in the direction Jezreel plain. Road 6 is, however, subject to a toll, if you use it with a rental car, tolls and possibly other additional fees are due. The plain is relatively narrow in the east-west direction, there are a few smaller roads here, but they are of minor importance for the journey.
mobility
Tourist Attractions
The most important sight is the already mentioned national park of Caesarea.
activities
There are a number of beaches for bathing along the Mediterranean coast.
kitchen
nightlife
security
climate
The Sharon Plain has a climate that is typical for the coastal regions of Israel: As elsewhere in the country, it is hot and dry in summer, but here it is hotter than in the mountains and often humid. In winter there is a comparatively large amount of rain and it remains frost-free.
