Abu Ghosh

Abu Ghosh is an Arab-Israeli town of 7,500 people (2018) in Israel. It is in one of the earliest areas of human habitation in Israel. Archaeological excavations have revealed three Neolithic settlement phases, the middle phase is dated to the 7th millennium BCE. In 2017, Abu Ghosh was described as a "model of coexistence."

Get in

Abu Ghosh is just outside Jerusalem on the road to Tel Aviv.

See

• 1 Church of Our Lady of the Covenant, Abu Ghosh, ☏ +972 2-5342818. M–Sa 08:30–11:30, and 14:30-17:00. Located at the north-west part of the village of Abu Ghosh. The church is located at the summit of Tel Kiryat Ye'arim. The site is identified with the biblical Kiryat Ye'arim, where the Ark of Covenant was brought after it was captured back from the Philistines. The biblical story was the impetus to constructing a church at this site. A church was first constructed at this site during the Byzantine period, which was later on destroyed in 614 during the Persian conquest of the region. The church was established in 1924 together with a women monastery on the remains of the Byzantine period church. Since the 1980s music festivals have been held occasionally at the church. Free. 
• 2 The Benedictine monastery in Abu Ghosh (at the center of the village). It is best known for the Crusader church that contains remains of a 12th-century frescoes. The church was built over a spring. Abu Ghosh's main mosque is adjacent to the monastery. 
• The Chechen mosque in Abu Ghosh. The second largest mosque in Israel. The mosque has four minarets and was funded and built with the sponsorship of the Chechen government. 

Do

Abu Ghosh Festival of Music

Festivals and Events

• Abu Ghosh Festival of Music. Held every year during the fall and late spring. As part of this festival, various Israeli and international musical groups perform in some of the oldest churches located within the village of Abu Ghosh. 

Eat

Typical traditional Arab cuisine meal served at the popular "Lebanese Restaurant" in Abu Ghosh

Abu Ghosh is famous for its food, particularly its hummus (chickpea paste). One of the restaurants in Abu Ghosh held a Guinness record for largest hummus dish, weighing 4 tons.

• Lebanese Restaurant, 88 Hashalom St, ☏ +972 2 533-5561. Traditional Arab cuisine in the Lebanese style. The Lebanese Restaurant is frequented by locals, Israelis and tourists alike and serves, amongst other reasonably priced delicacies, what is arguably the country's best hummus. Many Israeli notables have eaten here. In good weather, you can eat under the mulberry tree that this gem of a restaurant is built around. 
• Abu Ghosh Restaurant, 65 Hashalom St, ☏ +972-2-533-2019. Daily 11:00-00:00. Traditional Arab cuisine, anr stuffed fish. ₪40-100. 
• Mifgash Caravan Restaurant, HaShalom Street 27, Abu Ghosh, ☏ +972 2-5342744. Daily 10:00-22:30. Traditional Arab cuisine. 
• Naura, HaVadi Street 9, Abu Ghosh, ☏ +972 2-5341175. Daily 09:30-ladt customer. Traditional Arab cuisine. 

Sleep

• 1 The Jerusalem Hills Inn. 

Go next

• Jerusalem

Routes through Abu Ghosh

Tel Aviv ← Ben Gurion airport ←

W  E

→ Jerusalem