The Deer Monument, which stands about one kilometer from the hotel, is one of the loveliest and best-known points of interest in the Ma’ale Hahamisha area. The spot is beautiful and extremely tranquil; it is easy and simple to reach on foot and features wonderful views of the expanses of the Jerusalem Hills.
The route:
Exit the hotel, turn right at the gate and walk straight ahead for 200 meters
alongside the narrow road that rarely experiences traffic, until it meets up with road from
which Mt. Adar can be seen opposite you. Cross the road carefully, and turn left. Ignore the
turn into the dirt road with the red marker, but turn right instead a few dozen meters farther
along the road, to a dirt path that splits almost immediately into two separate paths.
Walk eastwards along the righthand path, for about 400 meters, until reaching the monument erected to honor the memory of Yisrael Shapira, who fell at this spot in a battle during Israel’s War of Independence. A metal statue, “The Deer,” stands at the head of the monument’s concrete base, and a memorial tablet with explanation at the foot of the structure. Sculptor Michael Katz created the statue in 1979, based on a model built by Yisrael Shapira’s son Michael. It was positioned adjacent to the Sanitorium Outpost, which had been erected at the height of a slope known today as Hahagana Hill, which towers above Kiryat Anavim.
The name was inspired by the Ma’ale Hahamisha Guesthouse, in which the Yearim Hotel
operates now. It stands in a wonderful location, about 400 meters north of Kiryat Anavim,
about 800 meters west of Kibbutz Ma’ale Hahamisha and about one kilometer southwest
of the British Mandate-period outpost at Radar Hill (known today as the community of Mt.
Adar). Return to the Yearim Hotel the same way you came. If you are interested in continuing, you could walk towards Mt. Adar.
Duration: About 1 hour.
Distance: About 2.5 kilometers.
Degree of difficulty: Easy/Moderate.
