Excursion «172. New Galilee»

The most sacred waters of all Christianity, western and eastern, in which Jesus Christ was baptized by John the Baptist.
232 km long Jordan originates at the foot of Mount Hermon, flows through Lake Kinneret and flows into the Dead Sea. It is surprising that once the river valley was buried in tropical forests and hippos were found in coastal factories. Repeatedly mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. Once the river separated the territory of the promised land, where Joshua led the wanderers after 40 years in the wilderness of the Jews.
Now the river delimits Israel and Jordan. Pilgrims and tourists from every corner of the planet come to the river to take a bath in the sacred waters. From Israel, the baptismal rite can be performed in the Yardenit complex.

Nazareth, is the third most important city for Christians after Jerusalem and Bethlehem, here the childhood and youth of Jesus Christ passed. Nazareth got its name from the Hebrew word "netzer" - a branch, although in modern Hebrew this word is not used to denote a branch. Nazareth was first mentioned in the Gospel.
According to archaeological excavations, there used to be an agricultural settlement, where only a few families lived, including the holy family (the Blessed Virgin Mary, Joseph and Jesus Christ). The significant Christian shrine in Nazareth is undoubtedly the grotto of the Annunciation, over which the Temple of the Annunciation was erected. In the vicinity of the city there are: Sepphoris National Park - the parental home of Mary, the remains of the Crusader fortress and other archaeological sites.
It is because of this that Jesus is called “ha-Nozri,” which means Nazarene.

Israel is a country where, at almost every step, you can see one or another attraction preserved from biblical times. Mount of Beatitudes is the place where Jesus once delivered his Sermon on the Mount, consisting of several parts. Each of them began with the word "blessed." From this came the name of the mountain. In the first half of the 20th century, according to the project of Antonio Barluzzi, the Church of the Sermon on the Mount was built there. It is notable for the fact that instead of stained glass windows from which you can see the places where Jesus once passed.

Thanks to the Roman emperor Constantine the Great and his mother Elena,  were built churches on the territory of the Holy Land celebrating the main gospel events: the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth.  According to the Christian tradition, Mary lived here exactly when the archangel Gabriel announced the good news about the birth of the messiah, thats why this place it seems to be unique.
The modern church was erected in 1969 and is the largest Catholic church in the entire Middle East. The church consists of two levels, the lower level is the grotto, where, upon giving, was Virgin Mary during the Annunciation. You should pay attention to the frescoes that have come down to us from the past and miraculously preserving their almost original appearance.
In the grotto there is a throne with a marble circle, where the message is written in Latin: "Verbum caro hic factum est" - "Here your word has become flesh."

In the Jezreel Valley at a distance of nine kilometers from Nazareth is Mount Tabor, its height is 558 meters. It is believed that on Mount Tabor the most important event happened - the Transfiguration of Jesus (when he climbed a mountain with three apostles).
Today, two temples rise in the town of Tabor - the Catholic church built in the nineteenth century and the Orthodox monastery built from the remains of the oldest Byzantine church. It is in the Orthodox monastery that one of the most important shrines of the town of Tabor is located, namely, the icon of the Virgin and Child printed on newsprint. The origin of this icon is unknown, because at one time it was found in the sea, neatly folded in a bottle. A huge number of believers come to seek help from this icon.
Mount Tabor is a popular destination among tourists, because it is interesting from several sides - historical, cultural and religious.

Capernaum

The New Testament calls Capernaum the birthplace of the four apostles of Christ: Andrew, Peter and the brothers John and James.

Capernaum was located near Tabgha (5 km), on the northwestern shore of Lake Kinneret, known in the Gospels as the Sea of ​​Galilee .

Jordan is a river in the Middle East, considered being one of the most sacred rivers in the world.

Jordan originates at the foot of the Mount Hermon, flows through the Sea of Galilee, and runs into the Dead Sea. In its downstream it represents a natural border between Israel and Jordan.

Jordan is frequently mentioned in the Bible. According to the Old Testament, the Jewish people with Joshua crossed Jordan on dry land while its waters parted by miracle, thus completing the forty-year-long wandering of the Jews in the desert. Later, according to the Gospel, Jesus Christ was baptized in the waters of this river.

Mount Precipice is located near the city of Nazareth and rises 397 meters above sea level. It is one of the main holy sites revered by Christians for centuries. Since ancient times, this mountain has been venerated by believers, and evidence of this is the ruins of an ancient monastery discovered on its summit by archaeologists. Worship services are still occasionally held here, and there is also an observation deck that offers a panoramic view of Nazareth and its surroundings.