The contrast is immediate: after the dry hills, a shaded gorge of running water, plane trees and ferns. Banias takes its name, by way of Arabic, from Paneas, the sanctuary the Greeks established at the cave where the spring emerges, dedicating it to Pan; the rock face still carries the niches that held statues and their inscriptions. The city that grew here was rebuilt in the Roman period and appears in the Gospels as Caesarea Philippi. Downstream the river drops through a wooded gorge to the Banias waterfall, the largest in the country, and traces of later occupation, including medieval remains, are scattered through the reserve. Filmed in 4K in every season, the programme combines nature photography with archaeology and biblical geography, making it flexible for both wildlife and heritage strands.
