Sepphoris

Sepphoris, known in Hebrew as Tzipori and in Arabic as Saffuriya, is one of the most excavated archaeological sites in Israel, in central Galilee about 6 kilometres north-northwest of Nazareth. It lies 286 metres above sea level and overlooks the Beit Netofa Valley. The site holds remains from the Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine, early Islamic, Crusader, Mamluk and Ottoman periods. In classical antiquity it was a largely Jewish city, a seat of the Sanhedrin and, after the Bar Kokhba Revolt, a gathering place for rabbinical families, and it was also known as Eirenopolis and Diocaesarea. In the modern era it was the Palestinian village of Saffuriya, which was depopulated in 1948. Moshav Tzippori was founded next to the site in 1949, and the excavated area is now Tzipori National Park.