Between the third century BC and the seventh sentury AD, Hippos was the site of a Greco-Roman city. The first residents of the city were pagans who later converted to Christianity. At their side lived a small Jewish community as well. Most of the ruins visible today date to the Roman and Byzantine periods.

Besides the fortified city itself, Hippos controlled a small port facility on the lake and an area of the surrounding countryside. Hippos was part of the Decapolis, or Ten Cities, a group of cities in Roman Palestine that were culturally tied more closely to Greece and Rome than to the Middle East.

The city was apparently destroyed by an earthquake in 749 A.D. and was never resettled.

From above, the plateau on which Hippos is built very vaguely resembles the head and neck of a horse. This is why early Greek settlers named it after the Greek word for horse, Hippos. The local Aramaic and Hebrew name, Sussita, also means horse, and the Arabic name, Qal’at el-Husn, means “Fortress of the Horse.” Other names include the alternate spelling Hippus and the Latinized version of the Greek name: Hippum.

The City eastern entrance

Decumanus Maximus – The Main Road

 The Western Gate and the Forum

Water Cistern

The North-East Church

The North – West Church

Hellenistic Compound

Water Canal