Oddly enough, our acquaintance with Atlit will begin precisely from the cemetery. A gloomy large shield indicates that there are tombs from the time of the Crusaders. This cemetery is eight centuries old. Surprisingly, the fact is that the cemetery is the only well-preserved crusader cemetery in the entire Middle East. An English archaeologist carried out the first study of the cemetery in 1934. According to him, there are about two hundred graves in the cemetery. Until 2015, no new studies were carried out. Recent excavations have shown that there are layers of burials in the cemetery. More than two thousand people were buried here. There are different areas, such as the burial places of warriors and pilgrims and women's and children's graves. We'll talk about the cemetery later, but for now, let's see what plants bloom here in the spring months.
Atlit is a small town south of Haifa. In the shadow of the capital of North, Atlit is an unremarkable province. However, acquaintance with this place will amaze us with the diversity and depth of the events that took place here. Let's start, oddly enough, with the cemetery. Knights and pilgrims are buried there. This is the only cemetery in the Middle East from the Crusades' time in such good condition. Then our path will run to the refugee camp, which has become an immigration museum. Here we are, witnesses, for the incredible fate of people, secret paths of illegal immigration, and a really recreated atmosphere of those years: the presence of barbed wire, guard towers, disinfection, and wooden barracks tarred by the scorching sun. Then, after a short picnic, we will climb to the ruins of the Crusader fortress De Strua. These are the only sites associated with the history of the Crusades that can be visited in Atlit today. And finally, we will go to the secret azure lagoon, where you can swim and find the shells of the famous mollusk, which gave itself the most expensive and prestigious paint of the ancient world - purple.
