Yarda spring is the ultimate natural water source in the area of Tel Gezer, originates in a well about two meters in diameter next to it are fig trees. When the water level is high, the excess water flows out down the Gezer stream - one of the tributaries of the Ayalon River. Around the water spring, there is a meadow in which grows the marsh clover, and a memorial corner for soldier Itai Steinberger, a member of Carmi Yosef village, who fell in the Second Lebanon War. In 1177, this plain near Gezer was the site of the Battle of Montgisard. The small Crusaders army of Baldwin IV defeated the forces of Saladin. A castle of Crusader Lordship of Montgisard stood there, a short distance from Ramleh.
Photo By udi Steinwell Pikiwiki Israel, CC BY 2.5, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=25156391
A few hours walk along Tel Gezer. You can start a day with a picnic in the charming forest of Hamagenim. Then, through the village of Karmay Yosef, we rise to the famous ancient hill Gezer. At this place, the battles of ancient history took place and the Egyptian pharaoh subjugated the disobedient rulers of Canaan. These rulers gathered together and concluded military alliances near one of the most mysterious structures of the ancient East - stone giants from Tel Gezer. Descent into an ancient well of forty-meter depth is the most mysterious part of the walk. We will end the day in the cool water spring of Yarda, where the battle of the Crusaders against Saladin once took place.
Cover photo by: Maximidf - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62461515
