Beersheba, Israel At some point between his sojourn in Shechem and his burial in Hebron, the patriarch Abraham resided for a time in the Canaanite settlement of Beersheba. The site known as Abraham’s Well, believed to be the one mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, still exists near where Abraham once lived. Beersheba subsequently played a series of minor roles in the history of … [Read more...]
VALLEY OF JEZREEL
Tel Megiddo, Israel The Valley of Jezreel, also known as the Plain of Megiddo, or Armeggedon, is the Holy Land’s most famous battlefield. Countless armies have raged across this vast, open, and highly strategic valley, from the Egyptians and Canaanites in the 15th century BC to the British and Ottomans during World War I. The best-known Biblical conflict to have occurred … [Read more...]
ISRAEL MUSEUM
Jerusalem, Israel The Israel Museum is the national museum of the State of Israel and possibly the world’s greatest religious museum. A sprawling world-class complex, no other museum in Israel, or perhaps in the entire Middle East (with the possible exception of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo) boasts so large or diverse a collection. Designed to capture the immense, … [Read more...]
CRUSADER CITY
Akko, Israel The city of Akko, or Acre as it was called by the Crusaders, was one of the most important and militarily strategic cities in the world for the better part of two hundred years. Christian warriors from Europe poured into this citadel on their way to do battle with the armies of Islam. It was from here that Hospitalers, Templars, Teutonic Knights and others … [Read more...]
CHAPEL OF THE ASCENSION
Jerusalem, Israel The chronologically last of the major holy sites associated with the life of Christ is the Chapel of the Ascension on the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem’s Old City. It bears the distinction of being the only major shrine related to the life of Christ that is not currently under Christian jurisdiction. It has technically been in use as a mosque for … [Read more...]
CHURCH OF THE HOLY SEPULCHRE
Jerusalem, Israel Jerusalem was the heart of Judaism for more than a thousand years before the birth of Jesus of Nazareth and the arrival of Christianity. It was perhaps inevitable that when he challenged the authority of the Jewish priests and the Roman governor, the central battleground would be in Jerusalem. It was here that Jesus spoke against the commercialization of … [Read more...]
CHURCH OF THE BEATITUDES
Tabgha, Israel The city of Tabgha stands near the site of ancient Capernaum, the northern gateway to the Sea of Galilee and one of the principal locations of the ministry of Jesus. Some of the most memorable chapters and miracles of the New Testament took place in the immediate vicinity of Tabgha-Capernaum. The most famous and important site in Galilee is the Church of the … [Read more...]
BASILICA OF THE ANNUNCIATION
Nazareth, Israel When it comes to Christian pilgrimage sites, there is no better place to begin then at the beginning, in Nazareth, where Mary the mother of Jesus was first visited by the angel Gabriel. While Bethlehem and Jerusalem boast the great shrines of Jesus’ birth and death, it is Nazareth where Jesus spent most of his life in between, and the surrounding region of … [Read more...]