Hamei Tveria

Hamei Tveria (Tiberias Hot Springs) on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee at Tiberias is a nationally preserved natural thermal site where geothermal and sulfurous springs emerging from the Jordan Rift Valley's active geology have been used for therapeutic bathing since the Roman period — Herod Antipas built his capital city Tiberias near these springs around 20 CE, and the Talmud records the springs' therapeutic reputation in the early rabbinic period. The Jordan Rift Valley's tectonic activity, where the African and Arabian tectonic plates are pulling apart along one of the world's most active continental rift zones, produces geothermal heat that warms the springs to 60°C at the source. Hamei Tveria is managed as a national park, preserving the ancient stone bathhouse architecture and thermal pools within a site of both geological significance and profound historical importance at the crossroads of Jewish, Christian, and Islamic religious geography.