Palestine Park
Palestine Park is a
Mount Tabor and the Mount of Olives, with markers representing sites of biblical significance including Jacob's Well, Jericho, Bethsaida and a scale model of Jerusalem in the time of Jesus complete with a small replica of the ancient Jewish Temple.[1]
The park was one of Chautauqua's first landmarks. In 1874, Chautauqua founder Rev.
Sunday School teachers that were Chautauqua's first visitors.[citation needed] In the nineteenth century, people arrived at Chautauqua via ferryboats and disembarked at Palestine Park so that their first footsteps were on the Holy Land as though they were pilgrims going up to Jerusalem; an actual journey to the Land of Israel was well beyond the financial ability of most Americans in that era.[2]
The park has been reconstructed many times over the years. The present Palestine Park is 350 feet long with a scale of 21 inches (530 mm) to 1 mile (1.6 km). The park is a
Chautauqua Institution Historic District
.
There are educational guided tours through the park each Sunday and Monday at 7 p.m. (weather permitting) during Chautauqua's nine-week summer season.