Nazareth And Sea of Galilee

We drive to Nazareth where we visit the Catholic Church of Annunciation, a very impressive modern church, built over the Grotto, where the angel announced to Mary she will give birth to a son "who shall be called the Highest" (Luke 1, 32).

Here we can see the ruins and whereabouts of the ancient small town called Nazareth. Time permitting, we walk for few minutes through the narrow allies of Nazareth to visit the ancient Greek Orthodox Church built over the city's spring, known as "Mary's well".

We leave Nazareth and drive through Kana, where Jesus is thought to have made his first miracle, turning water to wine at a wedding. Continue driving downwards to the Sea of Galilee and make our first stop at Mount of the Beatitudes, a Catholic church that commemorates the famous "Sermon on the Mount" (Mat. 5-6). Downhill, we drive shortly to Tabgha and visit 2 churches there, one commemorates the "Miracle of the Multiplication of the Fishes and Loafs" and the other one is Peter's Primacy also known as Menza (table) Christi.

After lunch break (St. Peter fish and some Pita bread…) we visit Capernaum, the ruins of Kefar Nahum, home base of Jesus, by the lake, presenting the reconstructed remains of the largest ancient synagogue in the Middle East as well as Simon Peter's House.

We end up our day by driving southward, along the Sea of Galilee (Lake Kineret in Hebrew), bypassing the newly excavated Magdala, onward through Tiberias, the capital city of the region, and arrive to Yardenit, the Baptism site. We may see pilgrim groups practicing their beliefs and traditions, baptizing in the waters of the Jordan River, just where it comes out of the Sea of Galilee, on its long journey to the Dead Sea.