On a flat-topped mountain overlooking the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee sits one of the most impressive and least visited archaeological sites in Israel. Hippos, known in Hebrew as Susita (both names mean “horse”), was a major Greco-Roman city that thrived for nearly a thousand years before being destroyed by an earthquake in 749 CE. The ruins are extensive, the views are extraordinary, and on most days, you will share them with nobody but the wind.
A City of the Decapolis
Hippos was one of the ten cities of the Decapolis, a league of Greco-Roman cities in the eastern Mediterranean that included Damascus, Philadelphia (modern Amman), and Scythopolis (Beit She’an). Founded in the 2nd century BCE, Hippos was a center of Hellenistic culture in a region that was otherwise predominantly Jewish, and the tension between the city and its Jewish neighbors is documented in both historical sources and archaeological evidence.
The city was laid out on a classic Roman grid, with a main street (the decumanus) running east-west across the mountaintop, flanked by columns, shops, and public buildings. At the center, a forum served as the civic heart of the city. Temples, a basilica, a cathedral, and bathhouses filled out the urban landscape. For a city perched on a mountain in the Golan Heights, Hippos was remarkably sophisticated.
Churches and Mosaics
After the Roman period, Hippos became an important Christian center. Archaeologists have uncovered no fewer than seven churches within the city walls, each with its own architectural character and several with well-preserved mosaic floors. The most spectacular discovery was a mosaic depicting the multiplication of the loaves and fishes, a direct reference to the miracle that took place on the opposite shore of the Sea of Galilee, visible from the church where the mosaic was found.
The churches of Hippos span the Byzantine period and reflect the wealth and devotion of the Christian community that lived here. The quality of the mosaics, the size of the buildings, and the variety of architectural styles all indicate a city that was a regional center of Christian worship.
The Earthquake
On January 18, 749 CE, a massive earthquake struck the region, destroying cities across the Galilee and the Golan. Hippos was devastated. Buildings collapsed, walls fell, and the city was abandoned virtually overnight. The earthquake was so destructive that the city was never rebuilt, and the ruins were left on the mountaintop, slowly buried by centuries of soil and grass.
The sudden destruction is, paradoxically, what makes Hippos such a valuable archaeological site. Like Pompeii, the city was frozen in time, with its buildings, streets, and artifacts preserved in the moment of catastrophe. Excavations have uncovered objects in their original positions, giving archaeologists an unusually detailed picture of daily life in a Byzantine-era city.
The View
The setting of Hippos is part of its power. The mountaintop overlooks the entire Sea of Galilee, with the hills of the Galilee rising on the opposite shore and the city of Tiberias visible below. The view is one of the most beautiful in Israel, and standing among the ruins, looking out at the same water that the city’s inhabitants looked at two thousand years ago, creates a connection to the past that few archaeological sites can match.
Visit Susita with Hoshen Tours
Hippos/Susita is a hidden gem of the Golan Heights. Hoshen Tours includes it in itineraries that combine the archaeological wonders of the region with the Sea of Galilee, the wineries, and the natural beauty of the southern Golan.
Because some ruins speak louder in silence. And Susita, on its mountaintop above the Sea of Galilee, has been waiting 1,300 years for someone to listen.