Israel & Jordan 2023: Mount of Beatitudes, Tiberias

With our private taxi tour there was one more spot we had to visit for this day and that is the Mount of Beatitudes, which is the site of Jesus's sermon on the Mount.

Being a mainstay in the tourist circle, it was no surprise to find the parking lot to be full. There was a short walk from the parking lot to the Church of Beatitudes. Lining the path to the church are stone blocks with a beautitude written on them.

The Church of Beautitudes is simple and small with a dome in the center. Under the dome is the altar, which is cordoned off and behind the ropes are pews for people to sit and pray. There were people milling about outside the church, but only a couple or so inside when we got there making our visit more profoundly emotional and intimate, I think.

The visit would not be complete if we didn't explore the grounds and the garden. Out back was a pavilion where a mass was on-going. This would be the last stop of the tour and then back to our hotel in Tiberias.

We got dropped off at the hotel with plenty of daylight left. Resting in the hotel was not something we wanted to do. Besides we haven not seen anything of Tiberias even though we took a walk after dinner the previous night. The couple that came with us to the tour today agreed to join us in exploring Tiberias.

The hotel was located along the main road, so we just crossed the street and walked towards the shopping area. When we walked in darkness last night, we were a bit disheartened that the town was dead after dark, but with some daylight left we could see that there were plenty to see and enjoy.

As we kept walking we ended up in the waterfront. This area was full of eating and shopping establishments and full of people and cats too. It seemed like this area is like a little Moscow.

The exploration of this area took us further into the edge of the water. We passed by a stone mosque that appeared to be abandoned and locked up. Nearby is a nice building that is a Russian guest house.

At the edge of the Sea of Galilee we watched boats, people, cats and the sunset. It was at this time that the other couple decided to call it a day and left for the hotel, while we stayed behind.

There were many many cats about and I was rueful that I did not bring any cat food to share with them, so we decided to go to a restaurant and get something to bite for us and for the cats.

Mural near our hotel.

Food for cats.