Tel Michal

Special to all my fellow designers, friends and colleages. This place lies under our nose, and we didn't know about it, till last week. Why don't we raise our heads, and look in the direction of the setting sun ? Because if we would have looked, we would have seen this place.

Tel Michal lies near the Hertzlia Marina (Ramat Aviv Gimel's promo...), and has a spectaculat view to the sea. It is a 30m hight hill, with very interesting archeological remains, from nearly all important periods.

In the 17th century b.c (!!!),  this place was a merchants city, having bussiness with Egypt, Cyprus, and Phenikia's important cities in the north.

In the 10th century b.c, after the great development in the merchandise between the United Israeli Kingdom and the Phenikians, this town grew greatly. In the site there are several temples, one of them to Baal Shmam, which is one of the Phenikians Gods.

After the fall of the United Israeli Kingdom, and the big separation, this city was abandoned. Only in the Persian period, about 526 b.c, the city was rebuilt. This time the city is the biggest throughout the ages. There are remains of an agricultural machinery suitable for 7000 liters, which implies the importance of the site.

In the Helenic period the place was reinforced with fortresses, as part of "Yanai Line", a line of fortresses along the northern coast of the great Yarkon River, built by the great Alexander Yanai of the Hashmonaim.

The romans built here a great fortress, 38x31, remaining till now, from sand Kurkar stone, entering from the north. It seems that the fortress was the capital of the Sharon in the period of the Romans, before Apolonia took it's place.

How to get there:

By car: drive to the Marina, and about 200m before the gates, turn left (south) into an unpaved road, and then till a big artificial hill. Tel Michal is a little north to that hill, closer to the sea.

By foot: from the marina climb to the highest place.

Enjoyable specially during the sunset.