The Galilee & Judea

Nazareth
Ein Kerem
Bethlehem
Jordan River
Mount of Temptation
Zippori
Cana
Capernaum
Sea of Galilee
Tabgha
Mount of Beatitudes
Kursi
Chorazin
Tiberias
Banias
Mount Tabor
Nazareth Print version

 town of winding alleys, a town of stairways, a town of tiers and levels of ancient ruins and restorations. A town of hidden caves, Cimmerian cellars and bright colors. A town of the pealing of church bells. This is Nazareth, nestled in the heart of a valley, surrounded by mountains.
Originally a small farming village, Nazareth grew on the rocky mountain slopes. The soft limestone on which the houses were built enabled the quarrying of cave dwellings, and was the source of materials for construction, while the fertile soil of the valley below was put under the plow. The rural status of ancient Nazareth, distanced as it was from trading routes and the historic events of the time, changed dramatically with the arrival of the Holy Family of Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Historical findings tell us that Nazareth had some 200 households at the time of Jesus. Since then, it has become one of the holiest cities in the world.


Church of the Annunciation


he Church of the Annunciation stands at the heart of Nazareth on the site where, according to tradition, the Virgin Mary was living when the angel Gabriel appeared before her to announce that she would bear a son, Jesus. Visible from afar, this is one of the most beautiful churches in the Holy Land.


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esigned by the Italian architect, Giovanni Muzio, and completed in 1969, the desire to preserve old and new amid the splendor of the church is apparent. Towering to a height of 54 meters (180 feet), the interior is illuminated by the sun’s rays streaming through the dome. It was designed to hold as large a congregation as possible. Its upper buttresses form the shape of the letter “M,” for Mary.


Luke 1:26-31
In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the House of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. He went in and said to her, ‘Rejoice, so highly favored! The Lord is with you.'


She was deeply disturbed by these words and asked herself what this greeting could mean, but the angel said to her, ‘Mary, do not be afraid; you have won God’s favour. Look! You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus.'


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he Church of the Annunciation stands two stories high. The lower portion is dimly lit and at its center is the Grotto of the Annunciation, while the surrounding archaeological remains form the nucleus of the church. The numerous artifacts in the cave are from different historical periods. Four pillars in front of the cave and an altar in the apse are from the Byzantine Church. To the north of the cave are the ruins of the Crusader Basilica. On the left are two pillars from the Crusader Church, and an ancient Crusader wall.

he top floor is a sanctuary for prayer. Its floor is decorated with marble mosaic and includes the names of the Popes who expressed their adoration for the Virgin Mary. The cupola is lily-shaped, representing the Virgin’s purity, and is the only source of light in the church. It is open over the rock in the grotto, symbolizing the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Mary. A large mosaic behind the altar beautifies the central apse. The mosaic depicts the Church – Body of Christ - in a hierarchical order: Christ, popes, cardinals, bishops, priests, monks and people of God. This is one of the largest modern mosaics in the world, created by the artist Salvatore Fum from Sicily. At its center, Jesus is portrayed with his arms outstretched. On his right is Peter, and on his left, the Virgin Mary.


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he walls of the Church of the Annunciation are decorated with impressive mosaics dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which were donated by Catholic states and communities from all over the world.


Mosaic of the Virgin Mary donated by the St. Andrews Church in Scotland.


Church of St. Joseph
Luke 2:39
When they had done everything the Law of the Lord required, they went back to Galilee, to their own town of Nazareth.
The Church of St. Joseph, situated to the north of the Church of the Annunciation, was built in 1914 on ancient ruins. In the crypt a well, mosaics, quarried caves and pools from ancient times have been preserved.
The Holy Family on the exterior wall of the church


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Cobbler in the marketplace

At the entrance to the marketplace near the Church of the Annunciation



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Souvenir stall in the market

Renovated entrance to the marketplace


The Synagogue Church


Luke 4:16-24
He came to Nazara, where he had been brought up, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day as he usually did. He stood up to read, and they handed him the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Unrolling the scroll he found the place where it is written: The spirit of the Lord is on me, for he has anointed me to bring the good news to the afflicted. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives, sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim a year of favor from the Lord. He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the assistant and sat down. And all eyes in the synagogue were fixed on him. Then he began to speak to them, ‘This text is being fulfilled today even as you listen.’ And he won the approval of all, and they were astonished by the gracious words that came from his lips. They said, ‘This is Joseph’s son, surely?’ But he replied. ‘No doubt you will quote me the saying, “Physician, heal yourself’ and tell me, “We have heard all that happened in Capernaum, do the same here in your own country.” And he went on, ‘I tell you solemnly, no prophet is ever accepted in his own country.’


ccording to tradition, it was in this synagogue that Jesus preached on the Sabbath to the congregation, (Matthew 13; and Mark 6) and where he prayed during his years in Nazareth. Today, the Synagogue Church is under the auspices of the Greek Catholic Church.



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Jump Mountain "Quafzeh"


The Convent of Mary's Fear


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Luke 4:25-30
'There were many widows in Israel, I can assure you, in Elijah’s day, when heaven remained shut for three years and six months and a great famine raged throughout the land, but Elijah was not sent to any one of these: he was sent to a widow at Zarephath, a Sidonian town. And in the prophet Elisha’s time there were many lepers in Israel, but none of these was cured, except the Syrian, Na’aman.’ When they heard this everyone in the synagogue was enraged. They sprang to their feet and hustled him out of the town; and they took him up to the brow of the hill their town was built on, intending to throw him down the cliff, but he slipped through the crowd and walked away.


The Church of St. Gabriel
n the ancient section of Nazareth flowed a spring from which Mary drew water for her household. The Church of St. Gabriel is located adjacent to Mary’s well and on the source of the flowing water. The present church was built by the Greek Orthodox in 1750 over the ruins of an earlier Byzantine ancient church. In the crypt below the altar to the north, a covered well is adorned with ancient Greek writing, which reads, “I bless thee, Mary.”


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