Israel & Jordan 2023: Nazareth - The Basilica of Annunciation
After our visit to Capernaum, we went straight to our hotel for 2 nights in the city of Tiberias, which is located in the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
The following day, the tour group went on a full day Optional Tour of Galilee and Golan Heights. We did not participate in said activity because we wanted desperately to visit Nazareth, which was not included in the itinerary, what a pity. Thankfully, another couple felt the same need to see Nazareth so we banded together and planned on a full day private trip so we can see the places not covered by the tour.
The hotel's front desk clerk facilitated the procuring of a private taxi to take us around for the day.
The first order of business for the day was a visit to Nazareth, specifically to the Basilica of Annunciation, believed by the Roman Catholic Church as the site where the angel Gabriel appeared before Mary and announced that she will bear the Son of God.
Along the way, we saw a sign for Mary's Well and so we asked the driver if we could stop for a photo. He granted our request.
Mary's Well or Fountain of the Virgin was located near the basilica, just off the main street. According to the Greek Orthodox this is the true site of the Annunciation and not in the site of the Basilica of Annunciation.
Whichever one it truly is, at least we visited both.
Nazareth I found out is very hilly. The streets are narrow, especially around the church. The entire time I was there I felt like I was floating. It's hard to explain but somehow the self was having difficulty admitting that finally I was here walking where Biblical people had walked, Mary and Joseph and Jesus too. Holy Cow!
The front of the church.
Sign in three languages - English, Hebrew, and Arabic.
Do's and don'ts.
Mary's statue near the entrance. The hands have turned black from all the people touching them.
There was a crowd of people in the front of the church and so we went the other direction. Still wary of crowded places. In the compound, there were about 3 more building, if I am not mistaken, one of them is a convent, and the other a museum.
This image is borrowed from this site with permission.
The Franciscan convent.
St. Joseph's Church.
The interiors. We spent very little time as we planned on spending the majority of our time at the Church of Annunciation.
There's a stairway leading to a lower level that turned out to be a cave. There is a tradition that asserts that this church of St. Joseph was built over the carpentry shop of Joseph, however, there is no evidence that the cave was a carpentry workshop, or what is deemed to be a carpentry workshop in today's world.
The first thing you see when you reach the lower level is a little altar in an alcove.
There is a larger altar table in the same level.
Noteworthy fresco. Too bad we didn't have a guide to tell us what we were seeing.
In front of the larger altar table is a hole where people drop prayer requests or thanksgiving prayers.
Let me tell you a little anecdote about my visit to the Church of the Annunciation. When I entered the church, I was overcome with emotion. I don't know where this emotion came from, but I just sobbed uncontrollably. To be honest, nothing was on my mind when I came here, only the excitement of visiting a very historical place. I took the whole experience to mean that whatever was in my heart that did not reach my lips, my prayer was granted. The couple that came with us here are not Christians, but the guy admitted that he also experienced something spiritual when he came inside the church.
Anyway, since there wasn't any guide with us and were left on our own devices, the only thing to do aside from praying is to look around and photograph those that interested us. Reading about the church now after the fact, I realized that there were so many things that we missed. I apologized for not giving you a more comprehensive documentation of this visit, because honestly I felt like the I was flying blind the whole time while visiting.
We entered from the side door.
There were huge images of different countries' depiction of the Virgin Mary on the walls of the church, some were outside the church on the walls too.
This one was from Japan.
I pray that someday I would be given a return visit to Jerusalem/Nazareth. I will make sure I study about this church and get a professional to guide my visit.
Mary's Well or Fountain of the Virgin was located near the basilica, just off the main street. According to the Greek Orthodox this is the true site of the Annunciation and not in the site of the Basilica of Annunciation.
Whichever one it truly is, at least we visited both.
Nazareth I found out is very hilly. The streets are narrow, especially around the church. The entire time I was there I felt like I was floating. It's hard to explain but somehow the self was having difficulty admitting that finally I was here walking where Biblical people had walked, Mary and Joseph and Jesus too. Holy Cow!
The front of the church.
Sign in three languages - English, Hebrew, and Arabic.
Do's and don'ts.
Mary's statue near the entrance. The hands have turned black from all the people touching them.
There was a crowd of people in the front of the church and so we went the other direction. Still wary of crowded places. In the compound, there were about 3 more building, if I am not mistaken, one of them is a convent, and the other a museum.
This image is borrowed from this site with permission.
The Franciscan convent.
St. Joseph's Church.
The interiors. We spent very little time as we planned on spending the majority of our time at the Church of Annunciation.
There's a stairway leading to a lower level that turned out to be a cave. There is a tradition that asserts that this church of St. Joseph was built over the carpentry shop of Joseph, however, there is no evidence that the cave was a carpentry workshop, or what is deemed to be a carpentry workshop in today's world.
The first thing you see when you reach the lower level is a little altar in an alcove.
There is a larger altar table in the same level.
Noteworthy fresco. Too bad we didn't have a guide to tell us what we were seeing.
In front of the larger altar table is a hole where people drop prayer requests or thanksgiving prayers.
Let me tell you a little anecdote about my visit to the Church of the Annunciation. When I entered the church, I was overcome with emotion. I don't know where this emotion came from, but I just sobbed uncontrollably. To be honest, nothing was on my mind when I came here, only the excitement of visiting a very historical place. I took the whole experience to mean that whatever was in my heart that did not reach my lips, my prayer was granted. The couple that came with us here are not Christians, but the guy admitted that he also experienced something spiritual when he came inside the church.
Anyway, since there wasn't any guide with us and were left on our own devices, the only thing to do aside from praying is to look around and photograph those that interested us. Reading about the church now after the fact, I realized that there were so many things that we missed. I apologized for not giving you a more comprehensive documentation of this visit, because honestly I felt like the I was flying blind the whole time while visiting.
We entered from the side door.
There were huge images of different countries' depiction of the Virgin Mary on the walls of the church, some were outside the church on the walls too.
This one was from Japan.
I pray that someday I would be given a return visit to Jerusalem/Nazareth. I will make sure I study about this church and get a professional to guide my visit.
Beautiful captures of Nazareth in photos and words. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAwed!
ReplyDeleteA very interesting basilica and beautiful stained glass windows.
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