Artas Village

Artas Village

Artas village is one of the villages of Bethlehem Governorate, and is located between the slopes of two high mountains about 3 km to the southwest of Bethlehem city center. It is bordered to the east by the village of Handaza, to the north by the Deheishe refugee camp, to the west by the town of Al-Khader, and to the south by the village of Wadi Rahhal. It is about 732 meters above sea level. Artas is characterized by its green valley, fertile soil, and abundant water springs.

The word Artas is of Latin origin “Artasium” meaning garden or paradise. It was known during the Crusader era as “Hortus Conclusus”, meaning the closed paradise, and has retained this name ever since.

Artas is an ancient Canaanite village, and is one of the oldest villages in Palestine. We can infer the history of this village from the abundant water springs and the historical Solomon’s Pools located near it, which supplied the city of Jerusalem with water during the Roman period and after.

Artas is considered the food basket of Bethlehem, and various crops are grown there in summer and winter. It is famous for lettuce and an annual lettuce festival is held there. It has also been included in the tourist map of Palestine due to its archaeological, religious and cultural character.