The old town is built at the bottom of Mt Gerizim where at the time 20 natural springs supplied the town with water. It is a large residential and market area featuring many old buildings and lively street scenes and activities. The religious and administrative buildings are from the Ottoman period and a walk through its colored alleys will give you a pleasant historic and cultural flavor.

The objective of the museum is to conserve the memory of the main aspects of the traditional life of Palestine, particularly the Old city of Nablus (Al Qasabah) and its region. Consequently, it proposes an exceptional collection of 700 ancient objects gathered from its inhabitants during 1997.

The museum is composed of ten showcases which exhibit different traditional features: the careers of the Old City, soap industries, traditional clothes, working in the fields, Turkish baths, the pastry-making of Nablus, kitchen ustensils, a city house, a village house and the library.

The museum also contains an open showcase to which everyone can contribute with the objects he considers important and valuable for the community.

The museum gives its visitors the occasion to discover certain aspects not well-known about the folklore of Palestine. It could be considered an ideal starting point for understanding the Old City of Nablus.

Nablus was the center of the Arab soap-making industry with over 30 factories in 1882. The abundant local production of olive oil explains why so many soap factories have been created. It is still possible to visit one of them and see how the soap is made. One of the more interesting factories is also the most convenient; Al-Bader Soap factory at 20 An-Nasir Street has been here for over 250 years and has exported to the other Arab countries. The basic ingredients are caustic soda and olive oil, which make them particularly good for skin.
Piled up in high towers where the air can circulate, the soaps are drying during ten days before being packed and exported in the rest of the Arab World

This quite little Arab village stands about15 km North-West of Nablus up on the scenic slopes of the Samarian hills. Just above it on the summit of the peak lie the impressive ruins of Samaria, the capital of the ancient Israelite kingdom.

Omri, king of Israel, established the city here in 876 BC. It was greatly improved by his son Ahab, who built various great buildings and fortifications. In 724 to 722 BC the Assyrians invaded and destroyed the Israelite kingdom. Samaria's citizens were deported and it became a provincial capital under the Persians. Razed in 108 BC and restored in 57 BC, it came to Herod in 30 BC who renamed it Sebaste and initiate a massive new construction program. It eventually declined with the development of Nablus. The Israelite, Hellenistic and Roman ruins include a theater, temple, palace, towers, columns and hippodrome.

The mosque Sidi Yahya (John the Batist).