Jacob's Well, Archaeological sanctuary in Tell Balata, Palestine

Jacob's Well is a spring in Tell Balata, Palestine, set within a shaft carved deep into the bedrock. The circular opening is roughly two meters across and leads down more than thirty meters through walls of hewn stone.

The spring was established in antiquity and carries the name of the biblical patriarch. Over the centuries it became a place of religious importance and a destination for believers from several traditions.

The well is named in the Gospel of John as the place where Jesus spoke with a Samaritan woman, called Photini in Orthodox tradition. Christians, Samaritans, Jews and Muslims have all linked the site to the patriarch Jacob. The Greek Orthodox church built over it in 1893 was consecrated to St. Photini, and pilgrims still light candles in the crypt beside the shaft.

The well sits in a crypt below the church of the Bir Ya'qub monastery, 76 metres from Tell Balata in eastern Nablus. Entry is through the church and down a flight of stairs, so plan for steps and a dim, candle-lit space. The site is an active Orthodox monastery; arrange your visit around its religious use.

The well sits in a crypt reached by stairs inside the church, beside a small winch, a bucket, ex-voto icons and lit candles. Major Anderson, visiting in 1866, described a narrow neck about 4 ft long opening into a cylinder roughly 7 ft 6 in across.