Givat Marar/photo: Israel Land Authority
A visit to Givaot Merar National Park, southwest of Beit Elazri near Route 40, offers a great experience for travelers with a combination of rich and fascinating history, caves, hills, water pools and an important ecological corridor.
As part of a project for conservation, ecological restoration and development, the site was made accessible to visitors through the Israel Land Authority (the Fund for the Preservation of Open Areas) and offers a natural gem for a trip to which entrance is free.
A combination of history, caves, hills, water pools and an important ecological corridor.
Givat Marar/Israel Lands Authority
The National Park has remains of the cave village from the Ottoman period and a settlement from other ancient periods/Israel Lands Authority
The important battle that took place in the region
The site offers a scenic route of easy difficulty for families with lookouts, a picnic area, ancient caves, historical remains, a picnic area, seasonal blooms, rich and diverse vegetation of carob trees, almonds and sables.
In addition, changing seasonal blooms of large chives, tulips, crimson iris, velvet bumblebee, common lip, narrow-leaved lupine, yellow lupine, common gorse, bent nip and blue sedge.
"Merr" in Arabic means 'caves'.
In the national park, there are remains of the Cave Village from the Ottoman period and a settlement from other ancient periods, including burial caves and fragments of glosskamas, typical of Jewish settlements during the Second Temple period.
Alongside this, the site's strategic location positioned it as of military importance even during the last century as part of military battles in Israel during World War II.
During it, a fierce battle was fought on the ridge between the British and Ottoman army forces, when in the end the British forces reached Wadi Tsarar and took control of the central railway junction to the south of Israel, thus sealing the fate of the campaign in the south.
The onslaught of the English cavalry alongside the Scottish infantry that defeated the Turks is considered one of the last battles of a galloping army on horses in human history.
"Merr" in Arabic means 'caves'.
One of the caves in the National Park/Israel Lands Authority
The strategic location of the site positioned it as of military importance in various wars/Israel Lands Authority
The site was developed and accessible, and includes walking paths that surround the main hill, from which a spectacular view is reflected towards the southern coastal plain, observation points and seating and leisure areas.
Staircases connecting the edge of the site - the parking and picnic area to the water hole, the caves and the upper aviary.
In the center of the perimeter path you will find a view towards the place where the cavalry battle took place, and in the center is the horseman statue commemorating the battle.
From this point you can see the water pools of 'Mekorot' which were built as part of the Yarkon-Negev water line in the early fifties of the last century.
Looking northwest you can see the cities of Rehovot and Yavneh on the horizon, and on days of good visibility the sea coast can also be seen on the horizon.
How to get there:
Enter "Givaot Merar" in Wise.
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