Dor
Tourism

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crossing the railway, taking a little road on the left which leads to the moshav. To the right can be seen the kibbutz of Nahsholim, near the ruins of a glass factory built by Baron Edmond de Rothschild. A little way to the north are the remains of ancient Dor.

History

Dor was one of the 31 city states conquered by Joshua about 1200 B.C. (Joshua 12,23). One of the four islands lying off the coast bears the name of Solomon's daughter Taphath (Tafat), whose husband was appointed governor of the region of Dor (1 Kings 4,11). After the Assyrian conquest (eighth century B.C.) Dor was held for a time by the Phoenician kings of Sidon. From the fourth century A.D. it was occupied by Christians; then in the seventh century it was destroyed by the Arab invaders. In the 12th century the Crusaders built a castle here (Castellum Merle) which was destroyed by the Mamelukes in 1291.

Sights

Excavations to the north of the kibbutz of Nahsholim have brought to light remains of the old harbor, the Crusader castle and a sixth century Byzantine church. A fifth century basilica covering an area of 1,000sq.m/1,200sq.yds was excavated in 1979; a relic particularly revered in this church was a fragment of rock from Golgotha embedded in a marble column.