The 60-hectare Wine Park is located in a wide topographic depression in the northern part of the port town of Ashkelon, bordered by the existing Barnea neighborhood and the new ‘Wine City’ development presently under construction.

What gave the park its name is the large archaeological site with findings dating from 2000 BC, reaching its peak in the Byzantine period. The ancient ​​4-hectare-large agricultural estate was discovered by chance in the 1990s as a result of illegal sand mining. The excavations revealed grape pressing houses, storage facilities, a textile house, and a workshop producing the amphoras in which wine was exported across the Mediterranean Sea. A Roman-era milestone was found in the area, suggesting that the ‘Via Maris’, the main coastal trading route during the Roman period, had passed through the site.

The site analysis revealed a wealth of additional existing landscape features: a seasonal river, sandy slopes covered by natural vegetation interspersed with mature sycamore trees, agricultural fields and citrus orchards, a former tree nursery with palm groves and orchards, and small winter ponds.

The design concept for the park emerged as part of the existing landscape values and around the theme of the archaeological site. The existing grid of agricultural orchards and fields informed the formal concept for the park. The plan creates a tapestry of agricultural fields and orchards of different kinds, interspersed with “rooms” housing various programs. Some rooms are large and intended for city -wide programs, such as an open-air performance area, a skateboard park and playground areas; others are hidden and quiet, such as a butterfly garden and outdoor classrooms overlooking the stream. Restaurants, sports and play facilities, and picnic areas complete the program. Two main systems of paths traverse the site: a central axis referencing the path of the ancient Via Maris that passes through the archaeological site; and a pedestrian walkway and bicycle path that meanders throughout the site and connects visitors to the many points of interest. A network of additional paths provides full access to the surroundings neighborhoods.

The planning includes the ecological restoration of the stream bed with gently sloped grass areas to the west providing both access to the water and areas for temporary flooding during heavy rain events. Pedestrian bridges will connect the Wine Park to the new neighborhood’s system of linear parks.