Har Meron

Where is Har Meron?

Har Meron is part of the Upper Galilee.

You will find it in: Israel.

Summit: 32.998° N, 35.414° E

The story behind it

Rain that falls on the mountain sinks into the pale limestone and comes out again as springs further down, which is why villages grew at its foot. The slopes carry thick woods of oak, wild pear and strawberry tree, and in spring the ground turns purple and yellow with irises, cyclamen and crocuses. Wild boar snuffle among the leaves at dusk, jackals call at night, and vultures and eagles use the warm air rising off the rock. A nature reserve protects the whole area, and a circular trail leads through the forest around the top, because the very summit is fenced off and closed to visitors. Families come for picnics and cool air in summer, when the lowlands nearby are far hotter. The village of Meron lies below and gives the mountain its name.

Find it on the globe

Har Meron is there as a small peak with its own shape — a horn, a ridge, a volcano — standing on the surface. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.