Nazareth and Galilee

A day trip from Haifa took us to the central mountains of Israel to Nazareth and then down into the valley of the Sea of Galilee and the Jordan River.

We travelled through irrigated farm land outside of Haifa up into the foothills and passes of the mountains. Israel does not get much rain and with the start of the rainy season all Israeli's were happy, they need every drop they can get. Israel has massive water pipelines taking potable and irrigation water to places that just get no precipitation.

Not being able to import any oil from the oil rich nations bordering Israel they import from the US and as such have moved to alternate means of generating hydro, mostly through solar. Every building has solar panels on the roofs.

As the name suggests the tour was about visiting the areas where Christianity was born through Christ and his followers. I am not a religious person and was interested in the total history of the area, a Holy Land tour is a Holy Land tour, so I am putting down what we saw and where we went.

First stop the Church of the Annunciation in Nazareth, this is where the announcement from the Angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary of the coming birth took place.

Motif of the Angel and Mary, Church of the Annunciation



This is a very large beautiful church, as Catholic Church's can be, with grottos and Churches of other faiths near by.

Into the Grotto



Although Jesus grew up in Nazareth, most of his preaching was done around the Sea of Galilee and the Jordon River. He lived at Capernaum with Peter, and as his congregation and followers grew, they continued to build new walls around the original home. What started as a one room dwelling became much more.

The stone wall foundations of the home of Peter and Jesus



The Mount of Beatitudes, where Jesus delivered the sermon on the Mount is now home to a Catholic Church funded by the Italian government. Then we drove back into the valley for a stop on the Galilee where the miracle of the loaves and fishes was and to a kibbutz hotel for lunch.

The Sea of Galilee

 We drove down the east side of the Galilee, through a lush valley full of kibbutz's. These are communal style farms established on the edges of the Israel borders and some have become very wealthy, now owning factories, hotels and other businesses. The people that started these wanted to be at the edge of any intrusion into Israel and while I surmised they were ultra religious, was informed that while of Jewish descent, most were atheists.

Kibbutz farm homes

This drive followed the western base of the Golan Heights and I was able to get the guide to point out the escarpments the Israelis ascended at night under the guns of the Syrian army bombarding the Galilee during the Six Day War of 1967. While we were in Israel, Syrian forces came into the no go zone patrolled by the UN. This had Israel a bit excited. 

At the southern end of the Sea of Galilee, the River Jordon starts its journey south through Israel and Jordon. This is where John baptised Jesus and today it is a great tourist and pilgrimage stop while in Israel.

Modern day Baptism in the River Jordan

Over looking the River Jordan