Bell Caves, Israel

(3 Votes, average 3.33)

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Bell Caves Israel. Photo by stevenconger

The Bell Caves have a unique sound. Large cavenous spaces are often very reverberant and echoey, and sound rather like large churches. And indeed this is part of what is heard in these caves. But what makes the Bell Caves more unusual, and worth a visit by a Sound Tourist, is the acoustic effect made because there are many of these chambers connected together by passageways. As the sound moves between the large chambers along the passageways, a very distinctive reverberance is heard, as sound sloshes about from one chamber to another.

The caves were quarries which were excavated at different times in history, but it is claimed some date back to the 4th century B.C. The largest of the chambers are over 5 meters high. The walls are made of beige coloured limestone.

Location and logisitc

The Bell Caves are in the Beit Guvrin National Park which “is located off Rt. #35 across from Kibbutz Beit Guvrin, at the junction of roads that lead from the Judean foothills to Jerusalem and Hebron. Beit Guvrin is 35 miles south of Jerusalem, (56 kilometers)” map. Opening hours and over visitor information on this website. The park also contains a Roman amphitheatre.

Credits and sources

Suggested by Jonathan D. Sheaffer
Photo, references and sound credits