Final Day in Nazareth

This is my last day in Nazareth, and I thought that it would be a great opportunity to check out the other churches who make claim to the site of the Annunciation.

I had visited the Basilica of the Annunciation earlier in the week, and found what  Roman Catholics believe to be the house where the angel  appeared to Mary.  The church actually contains the house right in the middle of its structure.

Today I set out to find the Coptic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation to see what it had as "evidence" that its spot was "the one."

It wasn't too difficult to find, as it was just a short distance from our hotel, down a side street.

As you can see, the entranceway was locked, so there was no way that I would be able to go inside to see what treasures this church held regarding the monumental event.

I will say this much, it was a fairly large church from outside appearances.

Not feeling disheartened, I made my way over to the Greek Orthodox Annunciation Church, which is formally known as St. Gabriel Church.

It is located in a lovely plaza, and we actually had a beautiful view of it on St. Patrick's Day, if you looked past the people smoking the hookahs.

Walking through the entranceway, I found myself in a lovely plaza.

The gardens were beautiful, with a bells amidst palm trees, and a lovely mosaic of the annunciation on the wall.

Here's a closer view.

The church was built in 1767 and has some ornate carvings over the exterior door.

I walked through the doors into a main church, but saw this in the distance.   This church stands over  what was once a Crusader church, overtop a spring that would have been in existence when Mary was a young woman living in Nazareth.

This walkway leads to an altar which is just above the spring that actively flows.   I could look down and see the water coming through the wall.

The tiling along the tunnel was stunning.

Next to the altar was a beautiful icon representing the Annunciation.

The main church was adorned with frescoes that represented not only the annunciation

but also many of the events of Jesus' life.

It really was quite a magnificent church to visit, and I'm glad that I made the effort to seek it out. 

I learned that the Greek Catholics include a book entitled the Protoevangelium of James among their beliefs.  Here is a quote from the text:

 And she took the pitcher, and went out to fill it with water. And, behold, a voice saying: Hail, thou who hast received grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women! And she looked round, on the right hand and on the left, to see whence this voice came. And she went away, trembling, to her house, and put down the pitcher; 

Just down the road, a couple hundred of feet away, stands a structure that is called Mary's Well.

Some seem to think that Mary would have been drawing water from this well when the angel appeared, and she became frightened, and ran home.

All three of the churches signifying this event are within close walking distance of each other.  Personally, I don't think that the exact location is possible to determine.  

And, I find it interesting that three different denominations pay tribute to the angel's appearance to Mary, announcing the fore coming birth of Jesus. 

 If you can't agree…..then build your own shrine.  Why not?  It certainly keeps the pilgrims busy, trekking up and down the streets of Nazareth.

Now that I had seen just about every shrine in Nazareth, I set off once again, walking through the narrow streets to discover some interesting buildings that I had missed earlier in the week.

This building that you see was built in 1904 for the purpose of serving Russian pilgrims.  At one time it could house 1,000 people, and it included a dining room, hospital, pharmacy and a school.

It was originally named for Prince Sergei Alexandrovich, but the locals called it "the Moskubiyeh" , which comes from the word, Moscow.

Just a little further down the street stands a guest house with an art center attached.  I've walked by this place numerous times this week (during my lost escapades….which seemed to happen nearly every time I ventured in this direction),  but I had never noticed the door.

Do you see it?

That is an "Eye of the Needle" that I had seen for the first time yesterday.  Isn't this exciting?  I had kept asking Marty if he had ever seen one when we were in Jerusalem because I was curious as to what it actually looked like.  And, here, I'd seen two in two days!  

Walking along, I loved this orange cast building with the Jerusalem cross hanging above the entrance.

And I had missed that Cross with the figures above the building next to the Basilica the other day.

One of the spots of interest that I had thought about visiting is called the Chapel of Fear.  The Frommers book that I referenced on my trip made it sound as if one just turned left at the Galilee hotel, and headed towards a wooded hill for a short distance.

I think NOT!

Well, when I spotted this on the hill top, way out on that mountain, I knew THAT wasn't happening!

Unfortunately, my photo does not do it justice.  I had to manage to stand on my tip-toes, attempting to reach over a high fence, and zoom in, in order to capture the photo.

The chapel is actually a maintained ruin.  I don't imagine too many tourists are making it to that spot since it requires hiking up a narrow path to the top of the mountain.

Are you curious by the name?  Our Lady of the Fright or Mary's Fear.  Well, here's the explanation:     The shrine supposedly stands on the spot where Mary stood and watched as the crowd attempted to throw Jesus over a cliff. 

The reading from Luke states:

And all they in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath, And rose up, and thrust him out of the city, and led him unto the brow of the hill whereon their city was built, that they might cast him down headlong. But he passing through the midst of them went his way

I'll admit, that although this passage from the Bible is familiar to me, I really did not give much though to Mary viewing the event personally.  

It is the last stop in Nazareth along the Pilgrimage "In the Footsteps of the Virgin Mary", and quite fitting that it should be included in the many shrines that are sacred to the City of Nazareth.

On this last night here in Nazareth, let me finish with a beautiful, calm,  night view of St. Gabriel's Church of the Annunciation.

Shalom!

Out and About in Nazareth

We awoke to blue skies this morning……..

Wait!  Let's be honest here…….we awoke to Muslim Chants that are broadcast through an extremely loud megaphone system.   What time was that?

4:30 a.m.    

Yep, that seems to be the trend here.   I'd say that I'm getting used to it, but, in reality, I find the broadcast chanting to be extremely noisy and annoying.  But, obviously, there isn't much that I can do about that, is there?

Today, there seemed to be some sort of war between the faiths.  The bells of the Basilica rang for extended times, just about the same time as the chanting was being broadcast.  I've never heard that in all my time here in Israel.  I just can't imagine what precipitated that reaction.  But it sure did make for a LOT of noise!    

But I managed to stay distracted by venturing out to Nazareth Village, which is located on the edge of the city.

The village is the recreation of Nazareth  as it would have been in Jesus’ time.  Archeologists discovered that this area of ground was original to the time of Jesus and it has been preserved in such a way to bring the visitor into the that time period. 

Luckily, before I left the hotel, I had the foresight to ask the hotel receptionist for directions, because I would never have found it if it were not for his landmarks. 

(Remember, street signs are few and far between, and it is extremely easy to get lost in this city. )

Here were his directions:

Walk down Paulus VI street for many blocks.

Past Notre Dame Hotel.

Take the 2^nd exit at the rotary.

Walk until you come to 2 gas stations, one on each side of the road.

That was easy.  Gas stations are very easy to recognize.

You will see a Super Pharmacy on your left.

Actually, the Pharmacy sign was written in Arabic, and under any other circumstances I would never have guessed that it was a pharmacy.

But I recognized it within seconds.  And why would that be?

Because I had been so sick at the beginning of this trip , the pharmacy in Haifa had nearly been my second home.  The word SuperPharm in Arabic had obviously been  etched into my mind.

Who would have guessed that my misery would end up being so useful?

Look for the YMCA sign, and follow it to Nazareth Village.  There will be two hospitals, one on either side of the road, and the YMCA as well.  You can’t miss it.

Really?  What in the world does the YMCA have in common with the Nazareth village?

The man was right, though, I had no problem finding a sign directing me to the YMCA.   There was not, however, any information that would have led me to the village.  Thank goodness I had asked for the directions.

Just a short walk from this intersection and I could see the sign in the distance.

 He wasn’t kidding about the YMCA, was he?

In fact, when I went to enter the village, I found myself nearly walking through the doors of the YMCA.  After some searching around, and walking up a flight of stairs, I found myself at the entrance to the program.

This wasn't exactly the location that I had envisioned, but who was I to question?  When I walked through the door, I had just missed a tour, and the man at the desk encouraged me to join the one that had just begun, or else I would be waiting for some time until another tour began.  Each tour lasted approximately an hour, and since the group was small, this would be my better option.

I agreed,  knowing that I had already missed some of the information, but I was assured that with a small group I would catch up quickly.

The  group included 2 women from Germany and 2 men who were obviously asian.  The guide was giving the tour in German and in English.  In fact, I was impressed with his ability to change back and forth between the two languages during his explanations.

As I went to join the group, the young man asked what language I preferred, and I said “English”.

The older gentleman smiled, looked at me enthusiastically, and said, “Wee Ingliss Too!”   He was obviously quite excited that I had joined the group.  He was with another man, dressed in a business suit, whom I gathered to be his son, but I can't say for certain.  They both had similar accents and they both fit the role of obnoxious tourist to a tee.   

The tour began in a room that I really can’t describe since I missed the first 10 minutes.  However, the guide was showing a huge Steel door with a smaller door cut out in the middle.

He was finishing an explanation about the purpose of this inset door.  In order to pass through it, one would have to lower his head in order to fit.  At that point, someone on the other side of the door was armed with sword in hand, and he would swiftly cut off the head of the intruder as he lowered it to fit through.

I had just joined the group, but couldn't resist asking if this door was referred to as the "Eye of the Needle"that we hear about in Scripture.

The young man answered in the affirmative, and he went on to state the biblical reference where Jesus states that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get to heaven.

At this point,  both  of the men in our group became quite excited as they whipped out their respective camera and tablet to photograph the door.  Just to be certain, they asked again  “ This is Eye of Needle?”

The guide nodded and attempted to get us moving into the second room, where I was able to discreetly photograph the door for my memories.  It was impossible to get a photo of it straight on once these men had realized the significance.  

In the next room, the guide lit up a map while explaining that Nazareth had been formed by the migration of Jews from Bethlehem during the Maccabean Period as they forced the Greeks out of this area and built the city on these hills.

Donkeys were used to help build the roads, because a donkey may not know the quickest path between two points, but he will always take the easiest path, which explains the winding roads to the top of the mountain.  (Great piece of trivia, don't you think?)

At this point, we walked into a dark room that had a Roman Soldier illuminated in one corner, and two other shadowed areas that were not lit.

The guide pulled out a sword from the Roman era, and removed it from its sheath to show a double edged sword.  He wanted us to see what the people of Jesus' time would have had to deal with in respect to Roman rule. 

One of the men became quite excited and wanted to photograph the sword, but the room was too dark for him to capture the image.  He asked the guide if he could possibly switch on a light so that he could get a good picture. 

The guide shook his head and said, “ No, this is the Roman period,  a dark period in Jewish history, and we cannot turn on the lights.”  

I found myself chuckling at this young guides stoic answer to the question.  It did not, however, keep the man from getting his photo.

After a few more explanations, we were taken outside to walk along the path to the area that has been restored according to the time of Jesus.

We passed two children tossing a ball

I managed to capture a quick photo before the man in the business suit  ran next to the smaller child, grabbed the ball, and smiled for a photo.

I was a bit surprised by this behavior, but it soon became quite obvious that this would be the trend for the remainder of the tour. 

I took some of my own photos for proof.  Here you can see the man in the business suit shaking hands with Abram, the shepherd.

Doesn't he fit right into the scene?

Walking around the grounds could certainly put you in the time of Jesus.  Donkeys were grazing.

and goats and sheep were romping around.

There was an example of a rich man's tomb,  to give an idea of what the burial place of Jesus would have looked like.

We were told that in those days, a body was buried for one year.  After that, the bones were then collected and put in a box the size of the largest bone, which would be the upper leg.  The box was sealed, and put back into the tomb.  This way many generations of a family were buried within the same tomb.  Once again, something of which I had not been aware.

We saw an original wine press that had been unearthed in this location. 

The guide is standing on the place where the grapes would be crushed, by the feet of men, women and children.  It would then drain through a small crevice in the rocks, which prevented the seeds from falling through.  The wine fell into the cistern-like cavity, and was collected and stored from this point.

Walking along, we came to a recreated synagogue.  The guide picked up the scrolls, and spoke about the passage in the gospel where Jesus reads from Isaiah and then proclaims that the prophecy has been fulfilled.

I learned that a synagogue was similar to a community center and a temple was where the Jews would go to pray.  I had not realized that there was a difference.

We moved onto the house of Joseph the Carpenter.

Of course,  both men had to get a photo with Joseph.  Here you see the older gentleman shaking hands with Joseph while the younger takes the photo.

Our tour was designated to be an hour, and the guide was giving us choices as to what we could see, because time was coming to an end and we would not be able to see everything as planned. 

Both men complained, " We want see everything!"  

Although I certainly would agree with them, the fact is, that if they had not been taking so many crazy photos, we probably could have covered more ground.  But, who am I to deny them their fun?

They sure did seem to be having a blast today, that's for sure.

As a memento to the tour, we all received a small clay oil pot to represent that Jesus is the Light of the World.

That was certainly a nice touch, don't you think?

I had never expected the tour to be so short,  so, here it was, not even noon time, and I still had the rest of the day to wander around Nazareth.

It wasn't easy, but I did manage to find the Synagogue Church located near the Marketplace in the Old City.

I had my map in hand, but the markings on the paper did not match the actual streets that I was walking.  I turned the corner, and saw three people in an alcove.  One was obviously a tour guide, and as I moved closer, I spotted the Synagogue Church.

Now that was exciting!  Thank goodness for the tour guide.  Not only did he help me in my search, he also saved me a couple shekels that would most certainly have been demanded by the Arab who was hanging around the inside. 

I photographed the interior from the door way in order to avoid the fellow.

and zoomed in to get a better shot.

The painting in the background shows Jesus sitting in a synagogue, preaching to a crowd.  The synagogue church is built upon the place where Jesus was known to attend services and to preach during his ministry.  I was lucky to have been able to find it among the maze of streets in the Old City.

I ended up, once again, near the Basilica of the Annunciation, but this time from a different vantage point.

When I took the photo, bells were peeling "Hail Holy Queen." It was an unexpected, but welcome sound as I walked along Annunciation Road.

 As Marty and I were walking home from dinner tonight,  I was surprised to hear what sounded like bagpipes playing.  After all, we are in Israel, not Scotland.

As we got closer to the hotel, the sound became louder, and, sure enough, we passed by a building where someone was attempting to play Auld Lang Syne on the bagpipes, but he kept getting hung up on the same note, over and over again.

Now, who in the world would have expected to hear that, here in Nazareth?

Not me…..that's for sure.  But it sure did add to the hilarity of this day!

Shalom!