Israel & Jordan 2023: Bethany Beyond the Jordan
The second full day in Jordan started with a visit to Bethany Beyond the Jordan, which is reputed to be the original location where Jesus Christ was baptized by St. John the Baptist. According to our original itinerary, we were supposed to visit this site yesterday after crossing the border.
Bethany Beyond the Jordan is located in the Jordan Valley, north of the Dead Sea. There's plenty of material regarding this site online and I won't go into these on this post. My posts are typically about my experiences visiting these sites.
As we were approaching the site, it felt like we were going to have a spiritual experience, but I had really no expectations since we had visited plenty of holy sites prior to this. The landscape was very surprising to me, although I should have assumed this region is desert. It is hilly and barren and open and we saw scattered about in the distance structures that appear to be churches. I tried to listen to Hussein, but I was drinking in the passing landscape and scenery. This place is magical and simple at the same time.
Marked pathway, covered because I believe the Jordan sun can be brutal.
Believed to be the exact spot where Jesus was baptized.
The cross carved on the stone was what led "them" to believe this was the spot.
This part of the Jordan is so narrow that if you throw a stone over the river, it lands in Israel.
Walking a bit further, we reached this church with golden dome. I am partial to dome as an architectural element.
Back and side view.
The front.
And for the interiors.
And of course, there was a cat sighting on this property as well. It's a cutie, what do you expect.
Marked pathway, covered because I believe the Jordan sun can be brutal.
Believed to be the exact spot where Jesus was baptized.
The cross carved on the stone was what led "them" to believe this was the spot.
This part of the Jordan is so narrow that if you throw a stone over the river, it lands in Israel.
Walking a bit further, we reached this church with golden dome. I am partial to dome as an architectural element.
Back and side view.
The front.
And for the interiors.
And of course, there was a cat sighting on this property as well. It's a cutie, what do you expect.
My apologies! My linky didn't open earlier as scheduled but we're now "live"!
ReplyDeletehttps://image-in-ing.blogspot.com/2024/04/the-rare-book-collection.html
Just knowing what I do about the bible i can imagine having the same spiritual experience, it would be quite overwhelming but exciting.
ReplyDeleteI can imagine your feelings on seeing these amazing places. The church is stunning.
ReplyDeleteI remember visiting that Church and being overwhelmed by its majesty. But when I saw the Jordan River, I wondered if it was as dirty back then when our Lord Jesus Christ was baptized. I hope not.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful architecture in Greek Orthodox churches.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pictures. Hope trip was enjoying
ReplyDeletewonderful journey
ReplyDelete...a walk back into ancient times!
ReplyDeleteThe church is amazing
ReplyDeleteWonderful captures and narration!
ReplyDeleteWonderful post! The barren desert landscape is so interesting to see, with the collection of churches in the middle of them appearing like a mirage! Such beautiful mosaics in the Greek Orthodox church and the spot where Jesus was baptized looks to be frozen in time. The cat added a touch of the modern age to such an ancient place :)
ReplyDeleteLove the kitty photo and great historical photos ~
ReplyDeleteWishing your good health, laughter and love in your days,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Lovely photos from Bethany Beyond the Jordan! The landscape is unexpectedly beautiful - magical and simple!
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