Day 12°C / 13°C light rain
Find Us Twitt Us

In the heart of Nazareth, beside the Greek Orthodox Church of St. Gabriel, next to Mary’s Well, in the shadow of the huge fichus tree lies the recently discovered historical treasure, an ancient bath house.

While starting renovations for the new shop in 1993, Elias and Martina uncovered the historic remains of the only public bath house in Nazareth.

The water for the bath, no doubt, came from Mary’s Well since it was the main available water source in those times.

The site contains artifacts dating back to ancient Roman times suggesting, to experts, that the bath house existed at the time of Jesus or before. Today, you can enjoy guided visits of the caldarium (hot room), the most beautiful hypocaust (heating tunnels) in the Middle East and praefurnarium (furnace) at this site.

A place that should not be missed when you travel to the Holy Land. During the tour you will relax and have refreshments in the arched hall of the cavern where wood and ashes were originally kept and today a permanent exhibition of the bath house excavations and Mary’s Well are presented. In the shop upstairs, “Cactus” offers an exquisite collection of authentic traditional embroidery, handmade jewelry, metalwork, and other beautiful works of art.

 

The gift shop is named “Cactus” due to its location at the foot of a hill once known as Cactus Hill.

In the Arabic language “Saber” means as well as “cactus”: patience, endurance and perseverance.

These are the same qualities which Elias and Martina have needed in their mission to bring the bath house to the world.

Places Nearby The Ancient Bath House (Cactus)

The Ancient Bath House (Cactus)
Review

Check The Ancient Bath House (Cactus) on TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor Traveler Rating
The Ancient Bath House (Cactus) Rank #11 of 24 | Type: Ancient Ruins
Traveler rating
Excellent: 48
Very good: 10
Average: 9
Poor: 5
Terrible: 6
See reviews for
Business: 2
Couples: 23
Solo travel: 7
Family: 7
Reviews from our community
"Bad vibes- stay away"
04 October 2023
Although I think finding a Roman bathhouse while renovating a souvenir shop in the 90s is a cool orgin story, this place is super haunted and the owner clearly hates tourism. 120 shekels for 1-4...
"#Fail - what is the point of an attraction that won’t let you in?"
19 December 2022
Arrived but door locked. Clearly people inside but they ignored us knocking in the door & did not answer the phone. No opening times posted on the door. #Fail
"Hellenistic period ancient baths in Nazareth"
07 November 2022
The Tadhamon solidarity choir from Sheffield had a wonderful informative talk and tour of the ancient baths. It is an incredible story of the discovery and restoration of these baths by Elias and his...
Location Information
Roman Bath House
+972505384343
10:00am - 7:00pm