SUSSITA (HIPPOS) NATIONAL PARK

Sussita (Hippos) National Park is located on a plateau about 2 km east of Lake Tiberias, at an altitude of 350 m, and offers stunning views of the surrounding area. This 20-30 million-year-old rock formation contains a wealth of fossils that testify to a marine flood that entered the region from the Persian Gulf. Above all, the site preserves the magnificent remains of the ancient city of Hippos (which means "horse" in Greek), known in Hebrew as Sussita (from sus, the Hebrew word for "horse").

The city of Hippos, better known by its modern name of Sussita, was founded during the Hellenistic period, in the second century B.C. It belonged to the Decapolis (the ten cities east of the Jordan River that formed a league in ancient times). Around 300 BC, the city was occupied by Christians and a small Jewish community. Most of the ruins visible on this impressive site date from the Roman and Byzantine periods. They include the Roman city gates, a 550-meter-long main road lined with columns, a theater, a fortified city wall, a water supply system, a forum and several Greek and Byzantine places of worship. The city was probably destroyed by an earthquake in 749 and never rebuilt. Nearby, several rock caves have probably served as human shelters over the centuries.