The Banias Nature Reserve is set in what has become an unusual place. It is in what was Jordanian territory prior to 1967 and was once a series of swimming pools and a hotel for Jordanian officers.
More importantly it is where many temples of pagan gods were built - due to the spring that issues out of the ground. The largest of them is the grotto of Pan, now dry.
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| A Rock Hyrax - rock beaver - sunning itself on the minaret of an abandoned mosque |
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| The ruins of the Byzantine Basilica of Panias. Inside was a statue of Jesus healing the bleeding woman (Lk 8:43-39) - who was from the city of Panias (testimony of Bishop Eusebius in the 4th century) |
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| The swimming pools and the grotto of Pan |
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| The grotto of Pan, now dry |
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| The spring today |
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| The temple of Augustus |
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| The court of Pan and the Nymphs |
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| The temple of Zeus |
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| A capital that crowned the temple of Zeus |
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| The Court of Nemesis |
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| The Tomb temple of the Sacred Goats |
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| The temple of Pan and the dancing goats |
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| Not goats! |
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| The place is crammed with temples! Little wonder Jesus asked his disciples who did they think he was. |
We travelled up the Golan Heights to overlook Syria. The border was very quiet - apparently there had been some fighting in the nearby Syrian town a few weeks away. It was a little spooky being there and seeing all the Israeli military around and the UN peacekeepers camp below us. It was also extremely cold, being close to Mt Hermon.
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| A glimpse of Mt Hermon |
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| An abandoned Syrian school - now in Israeli Occupied Territory |
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| Syria |
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| The UN Peacekeepers' Camp |
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| A mine field |
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