TJ’s Blog – leaving behind Galilee

Day 4 – Nazareth and the Mediterranean Sea

 Unfortunately but also fortunately it was time to leave the Galilean Area and make our way west to Nazareth and the Caesarea area. Though it was sad to leave the area, it was also exciting to continue our pilgrimage and advance on our adventure. The nature and scenery in Galilee was just unforgettable. The sea, the mountains, hills, palm trees, and communities is just so fun to be in. So far, this is most definitely my favorite place in the world right now.

As we ventured to Nazareth we were able to view the towns and I was just fascinated on the topography on which the town was built on. The cities were built on the hills  throughout the city.   Something interesting that I found out was that there were no homeless people considering the tough financial conditions the people lived in Nazareth. This is because, the community all helps each other out to provide for themselves and their families. Also it is accustomed that the younger generations of the community takes care of the older generations.

Our first stop was at the Basilica of the Annunciation, the biggest church in the Galilean area, originally built by the Byzantines around the fourth to fifth century A.D. in Nazareth. Later it was Added on to during the Crusades and was an active Crusader Chapel. Then it was destroyed and rebuilt again and so on. The front doors to the Church had artist’s depictions of stories from the Bible which, one showed  highlights from the Old Testament, and another had depictions of Jesus in the New Testament. Inside the church we were able to see what people believe was Mary’s actual house, which was surprisingly in pretty good condition considering that it is more than two thousand old. Over time the people there have obviously taken very good care. Inside the church was unbelievable. It was one of the most beautiful churches that I’ve ever seen or been to. All around the church there were different depictions of the Virgin Mary from so many other countries around the world. Each depiction was created differently and you could tell that the uniquely created pieces of art was from a different place. In addition to the depictions of Mary, there were other contributions from other counties such as smaller buildings and neat little structures.

On our next stop we visited Mount Precipice, the Mountain where the Jews brought Jesus to push him off after he read the scrolls and Jesus said that he was the messiah, the prophecy fulfilled. They rejected him as messiah and felt so upset and were so bad-tempered that they drove him out of the synagogue, they took a long, and I mean long, trip to the Mount, then climbed all the way up the hill, and tried to throw him off the cliff. But, Jesus slipped through the crowds and went away. The view from the top of the Mount looking down over Nazareth was phenomenal. It was very neat to look over the city and Just be in a “wow” moment! From here you could see Nazareth, and other mountains behind the reaches of the area.

After Nazareth we drove a little farther to Megiddo, a city built by the Canaanites around 8th or 9th centuries B.C. Here many battles were fought for the control of Megiddo and the land surrounding it. The term Megiddo comes from the word Armageddon, which you most likely heard of, and was referenced in the book of Revelation in the Bible “The valley of Megiddo”. The people of this ancient practices in their Canaanite worship and were polytheistic, meaning they believed in many gods. In the city we came upon many sacrificial alters which, just like the Greeks and Romans, they worshiped gods like Baal and not only sacrifices animals, but also a bit of those good ole’ human sacrifices as well. As we continued to adventure through this old town in ruins, we were able to pass by many houses that stood in the city’s walls, or at least they were, houses. The only thing left from the ruined houses were some rubble and pretty much the floor of the houses. Then we got to see the stables where King Solomon had once stored his horses in. Which was awesome and it was in great condition. Well, now that I think of it, it probably wasn’t in as good condition as it was 2,000 years ago! But, knowing that everything was in ruins it looked good.

Now, we were back in the beach-like area. Only this time we were not surrounded by the Sea of Galilee, but we were by the the great Mediterranean Sea.  The terrain of the west offered much more sand and is more at sea level and had pretty much no big hills or mountains compared to the Sea of Galilee, which was completely surrounded by them. 

The grand Caesarea was a magnificent city built by Herod the Great and named it in honor of Caesar. In Caesarea we were able to go to the Hippodrome, where brutal chariot races would have occurred. It was pretty messed up, but the spectator enjoyed it so, I guess it was a win? The original buildings and structures were destroyed in the many wars and crusades that Caesarea had endured. Lets just say Caesarea has been through better days. Over the years Caesarea had been inhabited and fought over by the Romans, the Byzantines, the Arabs (or Muslims). We walked around and viewed the city’s remains,  we saw Herod’s living quarters (Which was very interesting) and we got to see Caesarea’s grand theatre (which was awesome!). Caesarea was where Paul petitioned and was imprisoned in. Needless to say Caesarea was really cool. The aqueducts in Caesarea, which were remastered by Herod to bring water from the springs and brought along to the city to provide a source of water for the city.

 I’m so excited to see what ill be able to see and share with you all tomorrow! 

Spoilers!-Tomorrow we are starting in Jerusalem!