The Golan Heights

The Golan Heights is a plateau east to northeast of the Sea of Galilee. It was captured from Syria in the 1967 war and officially annexed to Israel in 1981. The Golan continues northwest to Mount Hermon that is partly in Israel, Lebanon and Syria. The last picture is a distant view of snow covered Mount Hermon (and, yes, they do ski there).
The 1st picture is a long view of the Golan Heights from the road on the east side of the Sea of Galilee. The 2nd and 3rd pictures look down from an observation point near the top of the steep hillside of the heights, actually a 500 meter high escarpment. This is one side of the Jordan Rift Valley. I hope that gives you a sense of the steepness of the topography. The 2nd picture looks over the Sea of Galilee while the 3rd looks over the Hula Valley to the north of the Sea.
The 4th picture looks across a small portion of the Golan plateau. This is a fertile area that has been used for agriculture. There are now many farms here.
Given that the elevation is relatively high, this is one of the better places in Israel for orchards and vineyards. The last picture is of the 5 varieties of wine currently produced by the new (2 year old) Tel Vineyard. I enjoyed these wines at our tasting. The young vintner is extraordinarily talented. As the business grows, look for these wines, though it will be a while before they make enough to export.Read more