Bar'am

The village of Bar'am, now abandoned, has notable remains of an ancient synagogue. It is reached by taking the road which runs north from Meron to Sassa (9km/6mi) and from there turning into a road on the right. According to tradition the prophet Obadiah and Esther, wife of the Persian king Xerxes, were buried in Bar'am.

The site of the synagogue, now a National Park, lies above the kibbutz of Bar'am (founded 1948). The synagogue, which is preserved up to the second story and has been well restored, dates from the second or third century and is thus one of the oldest buildings in the country. The entrance front with its three doorways faces in the direction of Jerusalem. In front of the entrance are some of the (originally eight) columns with Attic bases which supported a porch. The interior was divided by rows of columns into three aisles and an ambulatory.

100m/110yds from the synagogue is a small 19th century Maronite church (usually closed).