Southern District, Israel · Asia
Ashdod is worth a stop: 5 minutes from Shtulim, 54km from Church of the Nativity.
Ashdod is in Southern District, Israel, with about 230,000 people. You drive on the right here. The nearest town is Shtulim, about 4 km away.
Ashdod (Hebrew: אַשְׁדּוֹד, romanized: ʾašdōḏ, pronounced [ʔaʃˈdod] ; Arabic: أسدود, romanized: ʾasdūd, pronounced [ʔasˈduːd], or إسدود, ʾisdūd [ʔɪsˈduːd]; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃, romanized: *ʾašdūd) is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean coast 32Read more
kilometres (20 miles) south of Tel Aviv and 20 km (12 mi) north of Ashkelon. Ashdod's port is the largest in Israel, handling 60% of the country's imported goods.
Modern Ashdod was established in 1956 on the sand hills 6 kilometers northwest of the ancient city of Ashdod, known in modern times by its Arabic name Isdud. Isdud had been depopulated during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, having had a history spanning approximately 3,700 years. In ancient times, ancient Ashdod developed as an active maritime trade center, with its ports identified at Ashdod-Yam and Tel Mor. In biblical times, it was one of the five principal cities of the Philistines.
Ashdod has absorbed extensive immigration from around the world, resulting in one of the highest percentages of new immigrants in Israel. The city is home to the largest Moroccan and Karaite Jewish communities in Israel, and to the largest Georgian Jewish community in the world. According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), Ashdod had a population of 228,562 in 2024, with an area of 47,242 dunams (47.242 km2; 18.240 sq mi). Ashdod was incorporated as a city in 1968, with a land-area of approximately 60 square kilometres (23 sq mi).
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Discover famous landmarks, scenic roads, and more near Ashdod.
Within an hour or so of Ashdod: Abu Hassan (Ali Karavan) (30 km), Old Jaffa (31 km), Yad Vashem (50 km), Church of the Nativity (54 km).
The nearest famous roads are Scorpions Ascent (Ma'ale Akrabim) and King's Highway.
Ashdod is in Southern District, Israel, about 4 km from Shtulim.
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Places within a drive of Ashdod. Keep the ones you like and add them to your trip.
8 notable places within an hour's drive.
restaurant
A Jaffa hummus counter running since 1971, famous for masabacha made with whole chickpeas and extra tahini. It sells out and closes by mid-afternoon, and the queue starts well before that.
30 km · about 35 min drive
landmark
One of the oldest port cities in the world with 4,000 years of history, now an artists' quarter with galleries, restaurants, and views of Tel Aviv's skyline.
31 km · about 35 min drive
museum
Israel's official memorial to the Holocaust, with deeply moving exhibits and a striking modernist museum built into a mountainside.
50 km · about 55 min drive
cathedral
One of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world, built over the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
54 km · about 60 min drive
cathedral
Christianity's holiest site, built on the traditional locations of Jesus's crucifixion and burial.
55 km · about 65 min drive
landmark
A walled sacred city of one square kilometer containing holy sites for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam within four historic quarters.
55 km · about 65 min drive
landmark
The holiest site where Jews can pray, a 2,000-year-old limestone remnant of the Second Temple retaining wall in the Old City of Jerusalem.
55 km · about 65 min drive
landmark
The iconic gold-domed Islamic shrine on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, built in 691 CE over the sacred Foundation Stone.
55 km · about 65 min drive
Other places to explore near Ashdod.
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