Mount Meron

Quality 0.50 · 2 views · Updated 2 months ago

Mountain in the Upper Galilee regions, Israel

title: "Mount Meron" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["highest-points-of-countries", "lag-baomer", "mountains-of-israel", "nature-reserves-in-israel", "sacred-mountains-of-west-asia"] description: "Mountain in the Upper Galilee regions, Israel" topic_path: "geography" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Meron" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Mountain in the Upper Galilee regions, Israel ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox mountain"]

FieldValue
nameMount Meron
other_nameMount Jarmaq
Jebel Jarmaq
native_name{{native name list
tag1he
name1הַר מֵירוֹן
tag2ar
name2جبل الجرمق}}
photoNorthern_slope_of_Mount_Meron.jpg
photo_captionNorthern slopes of Mount Meron
elevation_m1204
mapIsrael#Israel northeast
map_size280
label_positionleft
locationIsrael
coordinates
::

| name = Mount Meron | other_name = Mount Jarmaq Jebel Jarmaq | native_name = {{native name list |tag1=he |name1=הַר מֵירוֹן |tag2=ar |name2=جبل الجرمق}} | photo = Northern_slope_of_Mount_Meron.jpg | photo_caption = Northern slopes of Mount Meron | elevation_m = 1204 | elevation_ref = | map = Israel#Israel northeast | map_size = 280 | label_position = left | location = Israel | coordinates = | range_coordinates = | coordinates_ref =

Mount Meron (; named after the former village of Meiron), also known as Mount Jarmaq or Jebel Jarmaq (; named after the former village of Jarmaq), is a mountain in the Upper Galilee region of Israel. It has special significance in Jewish religious tradition and parts of it have been declared a nature reserve. At 1204 m above sea level, Mount Meron is the highest peak in Israel within the Green Line. The mountain is a major motif in the art of the artists' quarter of Safed.

Mount Meron nature reserve

In 1965, an 84,000-dunam nature reserve was declared. An additional 1,199 dunams were declared part of the reserve in 2005. It is the highest reserve in Israel, at an altitude of 1,204 meters above sea level, and the largest reserve in the north of the country.

Religious significance

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ef/GraveOfRabbiSimeonBarYochaiOnLagBOmer.jpg" caption="Tomb of Shimon bar Yochai"] ::

The village of Meron and the tomb of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai are on Mount Meron. Leading up to the anniversary of his death on Lag BaOmer, thousands of people camp out along the slopes near the tomb, and on Lag B'Omer itself, hundreds of thousands make pilgrimages to celebrate the occasion.

Hiking paths

In Mount Meron Nature Reserve, there are some 45 hiking trails and routes for visitors to explore. At Mount Meron’s peak, there is a circular walking path, from which visitors can observe panoramic views and see rare vegetation. The Peak Trail surrounds the summit of Mount Meron and includes three lookout points: the Tzfat viewpoint (overlooking the city of Tzfat and the eastern Upper Galilee), the Lebanon viewpoint (looking north into Lebanese territory) and the mountain viewpoint (overlooking the Druze village of Beit Jann, on Mount Peki'in and the western Galilee).

In art

Mount Meron is a subject in Israeli and Jewish art. Gideon Ofrat described how artists such as Isaac Frenkel, Moshe Castel and others would paint scenes described as fiery or serene, with a particular focus on sunsets over Mount Meron as seen from afar in the city of Safed where an artists' quarter sat.

Climate

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Mountmeron.JPG" caption="Snowfall on Mount Meron"] ::

Mount Meron has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen climate classification: Csa) with hot and dry summers and cool, wet and occasionally snowy winters. It snows briefly on Mount Meron a few times during the winter. There are 22 days a year with a temperature of 32 °C or higher and 28 days below freezing. Mount Meron has a relatively cool climate with significant precipitation; and has the second highest precipitation in Israel after Mount Hermon.

Note: the chart is an average of five years so the record highs and lows may not be fully accurate.

|location = Mount Meron (2002–2007) |metric first = yes |single line = yes |Jan record high C = 17 |Feb record high C = 22 |Mar record high C = 18 |Apr record high C = 26 |May record high C = 32 |Jun record high C = 32 |Jul record high C = 33 |Aug record high C = 36 |Sep record high C = 33 |Oct record high C = 28 |Nov record high C = 26 |Dec record high C = 20 |year record high C = 36 |Jan high C = 8 |Feb high C = 9 |Mar high C = 11 |Apr high C = 18 |May high C = 23 |Jun high C = 27 |Jul high C = 29 |Aug high C = 30 |Sep high C = 27 |Oct high C = 26 |Nov high C = 20 |Dec high C = 12 |year high C = 20 |Jan mean C = 6 |Feb mean C = 6 |Mar mean C = 7 |Apr mean C = 13 |May mean C = 18 |Jun mean C = 21 |Jul mean C = 23 |Aug mean C = 24 |Sep mean C = 21 |Oct mean C = 20 |Nov mean C = 16 |Dec mean C = 9 |year mean C = 15 |Jan low C = 4 |Feb low C = 3 |Mar low C = 4 |Apr low C = 8 |May low C = 13 |Jun low C = 15 |Jul low C = 17 |Aug low C = 18 |Sep low C = 16 |Oct low C = 15 |Nov low C = 12 |Dec low C = 6 |year low C = 11 |Jan record low C = -2 |Feb record low C = -8 |Mar record low C = — |Apr record low C = 3 |May record low C = 7 |Jun record low C = 11 |Jul record low C = 15 |Aug record low C = 13 |Sep record low C = 13 |Oct record low C = 11 |Nov record low C = 5 |Dec record low C = — |year record low C = -8 |Jan precipitation mm = 70 |Feb precipitation mm = 190 |Mar precipitation mm = 270 |Apr precipitation mm = 60 |May precipitation mm = 80 |Jun precipitation mm = 180 |Jul precipitation mm = — |Aug precipitation mm = — |Sep precipitation mm = — |Oct precipitation mm = — |Nov precipitation mm = 20 |Dec precipitation mm = 240 |year precipitation mm = 1150 |Jan precipitation days = 5 |Feb precipitation days = 10 |Mar precipitation days = 8 |Apr precipitation days = 4 |May precipitation days = 5 |Jun precipitation days = 10 |Jul precipitation days = — |Aug precipitation days = — |Sep precipitation days = — |Oct precipitation days = — |Nov precipitation days = 1 |Dec precipitation days = 10 |year precipitation days = 56 |Jan humidity = 75 |Feb humidity = 72 |Mar humidity = 68 |Apr humidity = 55 |May humidity = 45 |Jun humidity = 45 |Jul humidity = 46 |Aug humidity = 49 |Sep humidity = 52 |Oct humidity = 50 |Nov humidity = 56 |Dec humidity = 72

|source 1 =

Incidents

On May 17, 1911, the collapse of an eight-meter high roof caused 40 wounded and seven fatalities. As the nearby hospital was closed, people from the surrounding area donated bedsheets and equipment to assist the wounded.

At about 12:50 a.m. on April 30, 2021, hundreds of Israelis were trampled as they were leaving the mountain, having attended a Lag BaOmer celebration that drew an estimated 100,000 people in spite of a 10,000-people limit imposed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. At least 45 people died in the disaster, with hundreds injured.

Notes

References

References

  1. (2024-01-06). "Lebanese resistance attacks Israeli enemy's 'Meron' air surveillance base with 62 missiles". [[Syria Times]].
  2. Taleb, Wael. (2024-01-08). "Why is Hezbollah's hit on Israel's Meron air base significant?". [[L'Orient–Le Jour.
  3. "Mount Meron".
  4. Federal Research Division. (2004). "Israel A Country Study". Kessinger Publishing, LLC.
  5. "Mitzpe Hashlagim - Peakbagger.com".
  6. "List of National Parks and Nature Reserves". Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
  7. "Mount Meron reserve". Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
  8. "Devotion Practices of the Kabbalists of Safed in Meron". Sefunot: Studies and Sources on the History of the Jewish Communities in the East / ספונות: מחקרים ומקורות לתולדות קהילות ישראל במזרח.
  9. (April 30, 2021). "What is Israel’s Mount Meron and why were so many Orthodox Jews gathered there for the Lag b’Omer holiday?".
  10. Gelis, Jacob. (1968). "The Customs of the Land of Israel (מנהגי ארץ-ישראל)". [[Mossad Harav Kook]].
  11. "Best Trails in Har Meron Nature Reserve". AllTrails, LLC.
  12. "Mount Meron Nature Reserve".
  13. "תצפיות נוף".
  14. Ofrat, Gideon. "The Art and Artists of Safed".
  15. "צומח".
  16. גלילי, זאב. (May 9, 2017). "ל"ג בעומר 1911 – האסון שזעזע את ארץ ישראל".
  17. "לג בעומר, מירון 1911: הילולה שהפכה ליללה".
  18. (30 April 2021). "44 crushed to death, over 150 hurt in stampede at mass Lag B'Omer event in Meron". Times of Israel.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::

highest-points-of-countrieslag-baomermountains-of-israelnature-reserves-in-israelsacred-mountains-of-west-asia