Maresha/Beit Govrin

Tel Maresha (Marissa) is the highest part of the national park. This was the site of the Judean city fortified by King Rehoboam after the campaign of Egyptian pharaoh Shishak (10th Cent. BC). In the 4th and 3rd Cent. BC thousands of caves were dug in the area, some of which form a huge, astonishingly complex underground maze. In Roman times, the residents abandoned Tel Maresha and established the nearby city of Beit Govrin, which became the capital of western Idumea.