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one and a half million people have visited the garden terraces
surrounding the Shrine of the Bab on Mount Carmel here since
they were first opened to the public on 4 June 2001.
The vast majority of the 1.4 million visitors have been from
Israel, which has a population of six a half million. The
terraces are one of the top tourist attractions in the country.
More than 380,000 of the visitors had taken pre-reserved guided
tours.
The tours, provided by the Baha'i World Centre, are free of
charge.
Guided tours take visitors down either the upper or lower
sections of the 19 terraced gardens. Casual visitors may visit
Terrace 19, the gardens immediately adjacent to the Shrine
of the Bab, and the entrance plaza to the terraces at the
foot of the mountain.
There had been more than 9,700 tours since they first began
two years ago.
About 25 Israeli university students, who are trained and
paid for their services, lead most of the tours but there
are also some full-time professional guides.
The guides come from Jewish, Christian, Islamic and Druze
backgrounds. Tours are also accompanied by support guides,
some of whom are Baha'i World Centre staff members volunteering
in their off-hours.
At present tours are available in Hebrew, Arabic, English,
Russian and Spanish. Israeli staff take reservations by phone.
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