A long day but one of the best days of my life. Thankfully we did not have to check out that morning. We got out ( a lil behind scheduled) and drove across town to Tabgha. On one side of the road is the lake(Lake Tiberias) and on the other side are green lands. The lake is like a violin (kinar). 30% of the lake's water is supplied to the surrounding lands. The Genesareth valley is near the lake. We passed Magidala city-the home town of Mary Magdalene- and saw a lot of banana plantations there. We also saw the project that helps to pump water from the lake to the different cities in the neighbourhood.
We visited the Sermon on the Mount church. This is an octagonal shaped church was built by a Franciscan architect-Antonio Barluzzi. This church is on the Mount of Beatitudes in Tabgha. The hills and landscape can help you picture Jesus addressing the crowds and teaching them. From the church on the mount, one has a superb view of lake Tiberias.
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| Sermon on the Mount Church |
Next we visited the Church of Multiplication in Tabgha-the place where Jesus blessed the loaves and fed the 5000. The church has an outer courtyard. Inside is a rock where Jesus multiplied the loaves. There is a Byzantine mosaic of 2 fishes inbetween a basket on the floor and this is the typical representation of Tabgha.
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| 5 loaves and 2 fishes |
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| Tabgha |
We then visited Peter's Primacy and Mensa Christi (Christ's Table). It is here that Jesus told his disciples to cast their net on the other side of the boat after an uneventful night. Jesus is telling each of us to turn towards Him so that we may also have abundant life. They have breakfast together and then Jesus asks Peter, "Do you love me?..".Feed my sheep"..
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| Mensa Christi(Christ's Table) in Peter's Primacy |
Outside this church are a few stone steps that Jesus is believed to have walked on. They look ancient and quiet believeable.
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| Steps that Jesus walked on |
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| Peter's Primacy by the Sea of Galilee |
Behind the church is the Sea of Galilee. We stepped into the cool waters and imagined Jesus walking on it.
Our next stop was Caphernaum-the town of Jesus. We enetered the house of Peter which is now converted into a church. This can be found below the glass floor of the present church. This is the house where Jesus heals Peter's mother in-law and also where the crippled man is brought down through the roof by his friends.
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| Peter's house |
The remains of some of the old houses of Capernaum can be found outside. Also are found the remains of the synagouge where Jesus taught.
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Old synagouge in Capernaum where Jesus taught
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We the went for a boat ride in the Jesus boat on the Sea of Galilee. The 30 minutes journey was kick started with the oldest member in the group-a 75 yr old appachen hoisting the Indian flag while the rest of us sang the National anthem. Achen and a couple of others sang and entertained us. The valley around the lake is the Gennesereth valley. When we got off the boat, we receieved a certificate for travel.
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| Indian flag on the Jesus boat |
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| Sea of Galilee |
Next stop was lunch at St. Peter's restaurant.One famous place that all tourisits visit. We were served 'Peter's fish'and 'sticky'rice. There was also the ususal spread of salads. The fish is not very exciting but I ate it cause of its significance in the land.
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| St.Peter's fish |
After lunch, we headed off to Mount Tabor. This is supposed to be the Mount of Transfiguration, though there are different views for this. It is 588m in height. Our buses dropped us off at Tabor terminal. From there we had to go by mini buses to the church on the top. It was so cold and windy and we were left waiting there for a very long time. The drive uphill is about 10 mins. We got off there and walked to the church. At the back of the church are 2 memorials- one for Elijah and the other for Moses. There was a group conducting communion in the church.
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| Transfiguration Church at Tabor |
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| Inside the Transfiguration church |
The drive downhill was fun and with the Chennai gang. We then boarded our bus and hurried towards Cana. We were supposed to visit the previous but were late.Looked like it was going to be the same scene today also. I badly wanted to visit that church and so kept praying that we would make it on time. On the way, we sang a lot of english and tamil choruses and had a nice time. When we reached Cana, the church was kept open just for us-rather they had closed it and opened it again just for us. We walked through a narrow stone street in order to reach the church. most of these churches close by 6pm, some even as early as 5pm. Anub achen prayed with everybody together. Some couples renewed their marriage vows too. I had a good time there-spiritually.
We went down to the crypt below. There is a stone jar similar to what Jesus used to turn water into wine. The remains of the old Byzantine church built over the wedding house are also found.
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| Church at Cana |
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| The stone jar at churc of Cana |
It is believed that the wedding was probably of a cousin of Jesus. And the wedding is said to have taken place on the 3rd day because as per the Creation story, on the 3rd day, God says "Ït is good"twice.
Those who renewed their marriages got certificates. We had some fun taking pictures with Koshy uncle and achen and then did some shopping in the area.
Back in the hotel, I had a bath, dinner and then packed up to check out the next morning. The Shabbath began at 5pm. People had lit candles in a common place in the hotel. Daphne aunty's Israeli friends came over to visit her.
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