The site is a reconstruction of the Stockade and Watchtower in kibbutz Tel-Amal (Nir-David), the first settlement built in this unique style, which led the way for the rest of the Zionist settlement during the Arab Uprising of 1936-1939.
Nahal members who settled in kibbutz Beit Alpha cultivated the National Fund lands (KKL) near the Arabic Beit Shean for two years. With the onset of the riots, their fields by the Assi river bank burnt down.
In response, and with the Haganah's encouragement, the members devised a method of raising a settlement within a few hours:
A tower, some wooden planks and parts of shacks were transported to the new settlement's site and with the help of volunteers from nearby settlements; the stockades were constructed, enclosing an area of 35X35sqm. and paved with gravel.
A 12-meter high tower was erected at the center of the courtyard for guarding and communication purposes and the shacks were constructed around it, serving as lodging, eating place, health clinic and toilets. The cost of raising such settlement was about 400 Israeli Liras.
The Haganah organization and the Yishuv institutions adopted the Stockade and Watchtower method and raised about 57 settlements during 1936 - 1939, most of which influenced the bordering of the country.
Visitors to the site can get an impression of what a settlement looked like, visit the shacks whose contents reveal the hard-pressed times of that period, and see the double-wooded stockade and the farmstead courtyard.
It is recommended to climb and observe the blossoming valley from the tower top and remember the desolation and swamps that were once there.
Groups can be guided and assigned activities on site, including the option of dramatizing the settlers' lives by putting on their period garments and being photographed.
In addition, a 12-minute authentic film is screened (in Hebrew, English and subtitles in Russian and German).

Opening Hours:
Sunday-Thursday - 10:00-14:00
Friday evening and Holidays - 09:00-12:30
Saturday and Holidays - 10:00-14:00
Group visits may be scheduled in advance for different hours.

Gan Hashlosha has a kosher restaurant, an outdoor theatre, an ancient mill, water pools and a museum for regional and Mediterranean archaeology.
Entrance fee is charged.

Address:
Gan Ha'Shlosha (The Sachneh) Rural delivery Beit Shean
Tel: 04-6586219; Fax: 04-6587822