Central District, Israel · Asia
Lod is worth a stop: 10 minutes from Aẖi‘ezer, 37km from Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Lod is in Central District, Israel, with about 77,000 people. You drive on the right here. The nearest town is Aẖi‘ezer, about 4 km away.
Lod (Hebrew: לוד, fully vocalized: לֹד), also known as Lydda (Ancient Greek: Λύδδα) and Lidd (Arabic: اللِّدّ, romanized: al-Lidd, or اللُّدّ, al-Ludd), is a city 15 km (9+1⁄2 mi) southeast of Tel Aviv and 40 km (25 mi) northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lowerRead more
Shephelah on the east and the coastal plain on the west. The city had a population of 94,189 in 2024.
Lod has been inhabited since at least the Neolithic period. It is mentioned a few times in the Hebrew Bible and in the New Testament. Between the 5th century BCE and up until the late Roman period, it was a prominent center for Jewish scholarship and trade. Around 200 CE, the city became a Roman colony and was renamed Diospolis (Ancient Greek: Διόσπολις, lit. 'city of Zeus'). Tradition identifies Lod as the 4th century martyrdom site of Saint George; the Church of Saint George and Mosque of Al-Khadr located in the city is believed to have housed his remains.
Following the Arab conquest of the Levant, Lod served as the capital of Jund Filastin; however, a few decades later, the seat of power was transferred to Ramla, and Lod slipped in importance. Under Crusader rule, the city was a Catholic diocese of the Latin Church and it remains a titular see to this day.
Lod underwent a major change in its population in the mid-20th century. Exclusively Palestinian Arab in 1947, Lod was part of the area designated for an Arab state in the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine; however, in July 1948, the city was occupied by the Israel Defense Forces, and most of its Arab inhabitants were expelled in the Palestinian expulsion from Lydda and Ramle. The city was largely resettled by Jewish immigrants, most of them from Arab countries.
Today, Lod is one of Israel's mixed cities, with an Arab population of 30%. Lod is one of Israel's major transportation hubs. The main international airport, Ben Gurion Airport, is located 8 km (5 miles) north of the city. The city is also a major railway and road junction.
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Within an hour or so of Lod: Abu Hassan (Ali Karavan) (17 km), Old Jaffa (18 km), Yad Vashem (33 km), Church of the Holy Sepulchre (37 km).
The nearest famous roads are King's Highway and Scorpions Ascent (Ma'ale Akrabim).
Lod is in Central District, Israel, about 4 km from Aẖi‘ezer.
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Places within a drive of Lod. 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.
17 km · about 20 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.
18 km · about 20 min drive
museum
Israel's official memorial to the Holocaust, with deeply moving exhibits and a striking modernist museum built into a mountainside.
33 km · about 40 min drive
cathedral
Christianity's holiest site, built on the traditional locations of Jesus's crucifixion and burial.
37 km · about 45 min drive
landmark
A walled sacred city of one square kilometer containing holy sites for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam within four historic quarters.
38 km · about 45 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.
38 km · about 45 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.
38 km · about 45 min drive
cathedral
One of the oldest continuously operating churches in the world, built over the traditional birthplace of Jesus.
40 km · about 45 min drive
Other places to explore near Lod.
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