In spelunking terms, the caves hold something both for the casual tourist and the dedicated caveman (or woman). Most of them can be reached comfortably by walking and many of them are even airy and light, providing no obstacle to the casually curious. Others are more of a challenge and can only be reached by abseiling or crawling.

The cave complex also has a rich, tangled history of occupation. Through the ages it has passed hands from Jews to Romans to Christians and back again: archaeological remains from the Persian, Hellenic, Crusader and Arab empires have been found in the area. The city was built and rebuilt from century to century, eventually falling into oblivion, only to be rediscovered in 1980 when the area was made into a national park.

The caves contain traces of a vast underground civilisation: more than 20 water cisterns, a huge Jewish graveyard, Roman baths and mosaics, a Roman-byzantine amphitheatre (the only one in Israel open to the public) and numerous Christian churches. A veritable feast of underground history in more ways than one, the complex has also housed several groups of resistance and freedom fighters during more than 2000 years of habitation.

We can also inform the film-buffs among you that some of the caves at Beit Govrin were used for the sets of the Sylvester Stallone film, Rambo III.