Inn of the Good Samaritan

Inn of the Good Samaritan Review

This one-story building sits on the strategic spot that marks the halfway point between Jerusalem and Jericho, as well as the border between the biblical Israelite tribes of Benjamin, to the north, and Judah, to the south. Although no 1st-century remains have been found, the restored Ottoman-period caravansary (inn) likely sits in the same place as the inn mentioned in the New Testament (Luke 10) parable of a man ambushed on the Jericho road and helped by an altruistic Samaritan traveler. Also part of this site, the Museum of the Good Samaritian has indoor and open-air displays of mosaics and archaeological findings from Jewish and Samaritan synagogues as well as a Byzantine church.

If you're energetic, turn away from the inn, cross the highway very, very carefully, and climb the dirt track to the top of the hill opposite. Amid the scanty ruins of the small 12th-century Crusader fort of Maldoim—from which the outskirts of Jerusalem and Jericho are visible—the Gospel passage comes alive.