Fodor's Expert Review Jericho Cable Car

To the west of Tel Jericho is the Mount of Temptation, identified by tradition as the "exceedingly high mountain" from which Satan tempted Jesus with dominion over "all the kingdoms of the world" (Matthew 4). Departing from a ticket booth facing Tel Jericho, a cable car (locals know it by the French, téléphérique) transports riders up and down the mountain. You can see all of Jericho and parts of Jordan from the restaurant at the upper station. Halfway down the mountain sits the remarkable Greek Orthodox monastery of Qarantal, the name being a corruption of quarantena—a period of 40 days (the source of the English word quarantine)—the period of Jesus's temptation. Built into the cliff face in 1895 on Byzantine and Crusader remains, it is flanked by caves that once housed hermits.