Beit She'an
Israel · Northern District · -120 m
Description
Beit She'an (בֵּית שְׁאָן) is the most completely excavated Roman city in Israel, a Decapolis town called Scythopolis that an earthquake flattened in 749 and that nobody rebuilt over, so the collapsed colonnades lie roughly where they fell. A colonnaded main street runs several hundred metres between bathhouses, a theatre seating seven thousand and a public latrine that visitors photograph more than anything else. Behind it a tell rises with twenty layers of settlement going back five thousand years, and the summit looks over the whole excavated grid.
Length of stay
Recommended length of stay: 1 day
Travel season
Best time to visit: March – April or October – November
- Jan
- Feb
- Mar
- Apr
- May
- Jun
- Jul
- Aug
- Sep
- Oct
- Nov
- Dec
Highlights
- Colonnaded Roman main street
- Roman theatre for seven thousand
- Tell Beit She'an and its summit view
- Roman bathhouse complex and its mosaics
- Public latrine of Scythopolis
- Earthquake-toppled columns left where they fell
- She'an Nights sound and light show
- Gan HaShlosha spring-fed pools(Day trip)
- Belvoir Crusader fortress above the Jordan valley(Day trip)
Getting there
- Train stations:
- Beit She'an