Excursion «196. Horns of Hittin. Swimming in the Sea of Galilee»

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.

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."

Karnei Hittin

A sacred place for followers of Druzeism, a religion practiced by a group of Arabs living in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria in addition to Israel. It originated in the 10th to 11th centuries CE in Egypt, and its greatest figure is considered by the Druze to be al-Hakim.

West of the Sea of Galilee (or Lake Kinneret) is a hill on which stands a magnificent palace. In one of its rooms the prophet Nebi Shu'ayb found eternal rest. The Druze call Yitro, the father-in-law of the prophet Moses. 

This place is famous for another event. According to legend, in 1187 the Crusaders clashed here in a battle with the Egyptian Sultan Saladin. In this battle, one of the most important relics of Christ's faith, the Life-Giving Cross, was lost.

This is a huge freshwater lake, which is also called the Sea of Galilee. It is the main source of fresh water for the whole of Israel. Despite the small size of the Kinnereth, more than 30% of fresh water is taken from it for the needs of the country. In the Kinnereth there are many different types of fish, therefore, fishing industry is thriving here. And coastal fish restaurants are famous for cooking fish dishes according to recipes that have remained virtually unchanged since the times of Jesus Christ. On the shore of the Kinnereth you can relax greatly. Near Tiberias, there are many sanitized paid beaches. History lovers also will not remain indifferent to the sights preserved from biblical times.