Afula Attractions
The town of Afula, founded in 1925 on the site of the Arab village of Afule, to the west of Mount Hamore (Givat Hamore, 515m/1,690ft), is situated at an important road intersection in the Jezreel plain. The inhabitants live by farming, trade and various crafts.
History
The place is not mentioned in the Bible. The Crusaders built the castle of La Fève (later destroyed by Sultan Baibars) to protect the old roads which met here. In the later Turkish period the Arab village was a station on the railroad line from Haifa via Bet Shean and through the Yarmouk valley to Damascus. During the First World War the Turks and Germans built the branch line from Afula via Jenin to the south.
The town
Afula is a modern and not particularly attractive little town, the principal market center for the Jezreel plain. There are only scanty remains of the older Arab settlement. 2km/1.25mi east of the town center, in the kibbutz of Merhavya (founded 1911), are the ruins of the Crusader castle of La Fève.
History
The place is not mentioned in the Bible. The Crusaders built the castle of La Fève (later destroyed by Sultan Baibars) to protect the old roads which met here. In the later Turkish period the Arab village was a station on the railroad line from Haifa via Bet Shean and through the Yarmouk valley to Damascus. During the First World War the Turks and Germans built the branch line from Afula via Jenin to the south.
The town
Afula is a modern and not particularly attractive little town, the principal market center for the Jezreel plain. There are only scanty remains of the older Arab settlement. 2km/1.25mi east of the town center, in the kibbutz of Merhavya (founded 1911), are the ruins of the Crusader castle of La Fève.
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Church of the Transfiguration
(Mount Tabor)
The Church of the Transfiguration on Mount Tabor contains three grottoes, one of which is the Grotto of Christ.
En Dor
14km/8.5mi northeast of Afula is the kibbutz of En Dor, founded in 1941 and named after the Biblical Endor, situated on a tell to the east of the kibbutz. Faced with the Philistine armies drawn up at Shunam, King Saul consulted the witch of Endor, who prophesied his doom (1 Samuel 28). The prophecy was fulfillled on the following day, when Saul and his sons were killed in a battle on Mount Gilboa, southeast of Afula, and his body was hung from the walls of Bet Shean.
Sunam, Israel
(Near Afula)
To the east of Afula is the Arab village of Sunam (Hebrew Shunem), the Biblical Shunam. This was the home of the "fair damsel" Abishag who was brought in to minister to the aged king David (1 Kings 1,1-4). The village fountain, En Avishag, bears her name.
Attractions in Other Popular Destinations
