North to Christian Galilee
Trip Start
Dec 12, 2007
1
6
13
Trip End
Dec 24, 2007
Tiberias,
Israel
Monday, December 17, 2007
· ; The Church of the Beatitudes on Mount of Beatitudes - a really beautiful, octagonal church designed by the Italian Architect Antonio Barluzzi;
· ; The Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes - also called the Heptapagon and where the masses where apparently fed by just two fishes and five loaves. This is a church of the German Benedictine Order and has beautiful mosaic on the floors;
· ; The Church of the Primacy of St Peter - the two best features of this church, for us, was the beautiful stained glass windows and the fact that it was on the edge of the Sea of Galilee
Camel Pierre
. After we finished looking at the church we went and "skimmed" stones on the water :-)Our one non-Christian visit of the day was to the ruins of Korazim, a Jewish town dating back to the first century and what must have been a magnificent Synagogue based on what remains there are. It was built using black basalt in the 3rd or 4th century with huge pillars along the inside that looked like limestone.
Then it was off to the local Kibbutz Ein Gev for a delicious lunch of "St Peter's Fish". It is a really tasty fish but soooo many bones! :-)
After lunch we went to say "hello" to the cows before heading off to Kibbutz Ha'On where, much to the delight of Pierre-Emanuel (our youngest passenger), we got to see their Ostrich farm where he raced with an Ostrich.
Our last stop for the day, after a fairly lengthy drive, was in Nazareth to see the impressive Catholic Basilica of The Annunciation, the largest church in the Middle East and apparently where Angel Gabriel told Mary she was pregnant. Sadly the town of Nazareth is a really run down town and, as it is an Arab town, there is little interest in creating facilities for visitors to the church.
On our way back to the car we did stop in at the famous "Mahroum's Sweets" for some delicious Baklava.
After a long day's driving we finished off with a really good cup of coffee at Yael before falling into bed.
Comments
Good times
Wow you are immersed in some serious history. I'm jealous.