Sadly, this is was my last tour of the vacation.....it was a long day with the tour pickup starting at 6am, and not getting back to Jerusalem until after 7pm; but like all the other days, it was worth it.
We started off with a trip to Nazareth, to see the town where Jesus grew up in which is now home to approximately 70,000 people. While in Nazareth we visited the Church of the Annunciation. The annunciation was when the angel Gabriel visited the the virgin Mary and told her that she would conceive a child, and would be the mother of Jesus. The Church of the Annunciation is a 2-story church that is actually built over the site of an earlier church (probably from the Byzantine era). What is interesting is that they have preserved some parts of the old church inside the new one (which is very unusual). The inside lower level contains the Grotto of the Annunciation, which many Christians believe to be the remains of the childhood home of Mary.
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| The "old" church inside the newer one |
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| Ceiling |
The next stop was the Church of St. Joseph, also in Nazareth. There are some traditions that say this church was built over the carpentry shop of Joseph, husband to Mary; but there is no current evidence that the cave underneath was a carpentry workshop. Beneath the church there is a baptistery, as well as what looks like some old water cisterns, and possible remnants of living quarters.
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| One of few pictures that depicts Jesus as a child (usually it is as a baby or an adult) |
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| Baptistery |
After leaving Nazareth we began driving towards Tiberius and the Sea of Galilee.
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| Tiberius, with the Sea of Galilee in the background |
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| My feet in the Sea of Galilee |
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| Instead of sand, lots of little shells is what was on the edges of the water/shore |
Church of the Multiplication--The church is much newer, and it stands on the site of some 4th and 5th century churches. While there is a small possibility that the church is located on the actual site of the miracle of the 5 loaves and 2 fish, it is probably not. It does represent the area of the region where the miracle took place though.
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| Fish and the loaves of bread |
Capernaum--This city was the center of many of the activities of Jesus' time. Jesus taught in the local synagogue, and it was the home town of the apostles Peter, James, Andrew, John, and Matthew (the tax collector).
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| St. Peter's house |
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| Overhead view of an old Byzantine village and an old synagogue |
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| Under the synagogue that can be seen there are the remains of the early Roman synagogue from the times of Jesus, which was built with the local (black) basalt rock. |
Jordan River...........
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| These particular verses are all over the area in LOTS of different languages. |
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| My feet in the Jordan River (with the fish) |
Armageddon......Was able to get a glimpse of the the place called Armageddon while we were driving on the bus.
And the hill where the Sermon on the Mount occurred......
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