Mount Tabor, Sacred summit in Northern District, Israel.

Mount Tabor is a monadnock, an isolated hill rising abruptly from the flat Jezreel Valley to 575 metres above sea level, about 450 metres above the town of Kfar Tavor below. Its summit is broad and rounded, almost half a sphere, and the Catholic monastery on the southeast side is visible from afar.

Mount Tabor appears in Joshua 19:22 as a border point of Zebulun, Issachar and Naphtali, and Judges 4 places Barak's victory over Sisera there. In 55 BCE Alexander of Judaea's 30,000 men were defeated at its foot by Gabinius. In 66 CE Josephus fortified the summit, called Itabyrium, as one of 19 rebel sites in Galilee; Placidus's force took it after the defenders' water ran out.

The Hebrew name Tabor was long linked to the word for "navel", though this is probably popular etymology; Greek sources called the mountain Itabyrium. Its summit holds two monasteries, a Catholic one on the southeast side and a Greek Orthodox one on the northeast side. The Catholic church is easily visible from afar.

Two paved roads lead to the top from different sides, with the eastern route less steep and suitable for all vehicle types. Footpaths through the wooded nature reserve offer an alternative and take about an hour and a half from the base to the summit.

The peak offers views on clear days from the Jordan Valley to the Mediterranean coast, with the rounded shape of the rise visible from almost all directions across the region. Wild flowers cover the slopes in spring and transform the landscape into a colorful natural display.