Zippori Travel Guide

4 more images

Here in Zippori I saw the by far largest cistern during my trip in Israel. Actually I came to the park in the afternoon. There was so much to see and I spent so much time here that I got close to closing time. People were asked to prepare for leaving, but I wanted to see the cisterns. I didn't kow that it is so large, but they told me I could go there and have a look and they would tell the security at the exit that I would come a few minutes later. So I stopped by car at the cistern and climbed into it. The cistern is a very long canyon like depot for the storage of water, which is essential here in the region. You can climb into the cistern and walk through it to leave it after maybe 100 meters on the other end. Very impressive and should not be missed!

4 more images

Don't miss the mosaic of the Synagogue! It used to be the floor of a synagogue and is strongly related to the synagogues floor in Bet-Alfa National Park. Both mosaics were made by the same artists. The mosaic is well preserved and is kind of similar to the one of Bet-Alfa, sort of mass production. Have a look on my Bet-Alfa page to compare.

4 more images

On a small hill in the Park you can go inside a building which protects a huge mosaic of a roman villa. It has many different scenes related to Dionysus, the god of wine. Plates set up there explain detailed what there is to see. I recommend to spend some time here. You will be fascinated by the huge detail rich mosaic!

2 more images

Walking through the National Park you will come across many different pattern of mosaic floors. It is impressive how many mosaic floors were found here. Keep your eyes open!

2 more images

Looking around at the mosaics you will come across a mosaic marked as the The Amazons Hunting. Amazons were the women who cut off their breasts to have it easier to use bow and arrow. If you look at the mosaic, you will see that it is half proven that these women aren't Amazons.

Orpheus was a mythical musician who impressed and charmed everything around him, from people to animals and things. On his weddingday his wife was killed by a snake bite. Orpheus got the permission from the god of the underworld to follow her and bring her back. Only he was not alllowed to look back, but he did this to see if she followed him out. That way he lost her forever. On the mosaic you can see Orpheus charming animals gathering around him.

About Orpheus...

The Nile Mosaic is located in the Nile House. It shows the celebration held in old Egypt at the times when the Nile had is peak and brought fertile floodings. These allowed the egypt culture to florish and therefore this event was very important. On the mosaic you can see the Nile in the center as a band flowing horizontally through the mosaic. You will find the lighthouse of Alexandria, one of the seven world wonders, and a pole (the Nilometer) used as measuring device for the level of the river. I am sure you will like the mosaic and stay here for a while to enjoy it.
As I stated in the intro I unfortunately lost some photos of this particular day, so I only can link to the webpage below, where you can have a look at some photos of the Nile Mosaic.

Just a few kilometers outside the settlement of Zippori is the ancient city of the same name where you can find some of the most fantastic mosaics that I have seen in a long time. You can see the seperate page that I have done on them, here is just an example of what you can see there.