{"id":1368,"date":"2018-04-07T05:40:18","date_gmt":"2018-04-07T03:40:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/new\/israel\/israelwp\/tel-aviv-on-wheels-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2-2\/"},"modified":"2020-04-29T14:51:09","modified_gmt":"2020-04-29T12:51:09","slug":"epic-masada","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/epic-masada\/","title":{"rendered":"Epic Masada"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><div class=\"mtwpb_elements_wrapper\">[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<strong>Re-live epic history atop the Judean Desert\u2019s glorious fortification<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Journey to Masada National Park, the lone, isolated, ancient Judean Desert clifftop fortification, overlooking the nearby Dead Sea oasis. Hike up the winding snake path or Roman staircase from the fortification\u2019s base, or enter the Masada Visitors\u2019 Center and travel to the site\u2019s summit via cable car and begin to experience a part of ancient history, as if it were still in the making.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Explore regal ruins and feel a part of history<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Enter what was once a series of luxurious castles forming the final stronghold inhabited by freedom fighters, who courageously waged war against the Roman Empire following the destruction of the Second Temple. A site so rich in historical narrative, that the cool, stone walls practically weep for the brave souls who chose untimely death over enslavement under enemy regime.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"3768\" img_size=\"full\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<strong>Where experiencing culture and religion reaches new heights<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Stroll through the castle ruins and discover rooms and structures, archaeological findings highlighting life on Masada during the Roman siege. Enter the Northern Castle, the ruins of King Herod\u2019s private fortress palace. Whisper a prayer in the ancient synagogue, where Jews congregated thrice daily to pray for salvation. Pay homage to the departed freedom fighters, who drew lots in the \u201cLottery Room\u201d to determine the order of the men\u2019s impending deaths, until the last remaining man put an end to his own life as well.<\/p>\n<p>Gaze at what is left of a Byzantine-era church and its mosaic artwork, possibly used for centuries by escaped Christian monks as early as the 1st Century, for a period of roughly 600 years.<\/p>\n<p>Experience Masada as one of UNESCO\u2019s World Heritage Sites, complete with a sunset sound and light show at the fortification\u2019s base, which delves into the way of life and battles experienced on site centuries ago.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=\"yes\"][vc_column][vc_column_text]The world-famous site of the remains of a magnificent fortress, built in the year 30 BCE by King Herod atop a rock plateau; Masada tells an ancient tale of heroism and sacrifice, of the power of faith to unite and of the triumph of the human spirit in the face of adversities.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=\"yes\"][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"2415\" img_size=\"full\" add_caption=\"yes\" alignment=\"center\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=\"yes\"][vc_column][vc_column_text]Situated against the breathtaking backdrop of the desert panorama to the West and the Dead Sea to the East, Masada is 450 meters high and can be reached on foot by the winding \"Snake Trail\" or by a cable car that runs from the tourist center to the top of Masada. In the year 2000, readers of Traveler Magazine rated Masada as the best tourist site of its kind in the world, and in 2001, UNESCO declared Masada a World Heritage Site.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=\"yes\"][vc_column][vc_single_image image=\"2451\" img_size=\"full\" add_caption=\"yes\" alignment=\"center\"][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row disable_element=\"yes\"][vc_column][vc_column_text]A visit to Masada is an evocative and thrilling experience \u2013 and one which will surely last in your heart and mind.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Re-live epic history atop the Judean Desert\u2019s glorious fortification Journey to Masada National Park, the lone, isolated, ancient Judean Desert clifftop fortification, overlooking the nearby Dead Sea oasis. Hike up the winding snake path or Roman staircase from the fortification\u2019s base, or enter the Masada Visitors\u2019 Center and travel to the site\u2019s summit via cable [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1424,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1368","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-south","category-things-to-do"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1368"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5113,"href":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1368\/revisions\/5113"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/israel.travel\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}