Badd Giacaman Museum, Museum for Olive Oil Production in Bethlehem
Badd Giacaman Museum is located in Bethlehem's old town and occupies an 18th-century stone house belonging to the Giacaman family. Inside you find traditional pressing equipment, old tools, pottery jars, and displays showing how olive oil was used for lamps, medicine, soap, and food.
The building dates to the 18th century and served as an operating oil mill for the Giacaman family for generations before becoming a museum. It underwent major restoration work from 1998 to 2000 and again in 2014 to preserve its historic structure and contents.
The name 'Badd' refers to the traditional stone press that local families like the Giacamans operated for generations, a centerpiece of their daily work and community income. Walking through the exhibits reveals how olive oil production wove into every aspect of local life and culture.
The museum is located on Fawagreh Street in the old town and is easy to find on foot. Visit on weekday mornings for the most peaceful experience, as this is when crowds tend to be lighter and you can move through the exhibits at a relaxed pace.
The traditional Badd press used donkey power to rotate a large circular stone over olives, the only method for oil extraction until modern machines arrived in the 20th century. The museum preserves a rare record of this labor-intensive technique that shaped the economic life of Bethlehem for hundreds of years.
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