Banias or Banyas is a site in the Golan Heights near a natural spring, once associated with the Greek god Pan. It had been inhabited for 2,000 years, until it was abandoned and destroyed following the Six-Day War. It is located at the foot of Mount Hermon, north of the Golan Heights, in the Israeli portion. The spring is the source of the Banias River, one of th…
Banias or Banyas is a site in the Golan Heights near a natural spring, once associated with the Greek god Pan. It had been inhabited for 2,000 years, until it was abandoned and destroyed following the Six-Day War. It is located at the foot of Mount Hermon, north of the Golan Heights, in the Israeli portion. The spring is the source of the Banias River, one of the main tributaries of the Jordan River. Archaeologists uncovered a shrine dedicated to Pan and related deities, and the remains of an ancient city founded sometime after the conquest by Alexander the Great and inhabited until 1967. The ancient city was mentioned in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, under the name of Caesarea Philippi, as the place where Jesus confirmed Peter's confession that Jesus was the Messiah; the site is today a place of pilgrimage for Christians.
Location: Mount Hermon north of the Golan Heights
Cultures: Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, Early Islamic, Crusader
Archaeologists: Zvi Maoz (Area A, the temples area) and Vassilios Tzaferis (Area B, the central civic area)
Public access: yes (national park)
Type: the town of Caesarea Philippi with · the sanctuary of Pan
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