Nazareth part 2

So now that I've talked about the challenges of getting to Nazareth here's a bit of what I did once I got there. Our first stop was the the Basilica of the Annunciation. This church was built on the site many Christians believe to be where the archangel Gabriel come to Mary and told her that she would carry the Christ child. This is hardly the prettiest church in the West Bank, but it is the largest.



















To enter the church you must pass through a door that has been carved with images depicting the events of Jesus' life, starting with Gabriel coming to Mary, his baptism, crucifixion, and ultimately his resurrection.

On the walls that surround the outside of the walls as well as inside the church itself are murals of the holy family. Each mural has been donated by a different country. The one in which I am standing in front of came from the United States. The mural that is perhaps the most well known is the one donated by Japan. As you can see they have made Mary and child reflect their race, Asian, something that the west catches a lot of slack for.










































Here are some random picture from around the Basilica.





























































The church below was built on what is believed to the site of Joseph's carpentry workshop.

























Mary's Well is a modern public fountain in Nazareth built over a well that has been in public use since ancient times. It is fed by Mary's Spring, which runs under the altar of the nearby Orthodox Church of St. Gabriel. PS Mary's Well smells like pee.


This is St. Gabriel's Church, I wish I had taken a better picture of the outside of it. The Church of St. Gabriel is the Orthodox counterpart to the Catholic Basilica of the Annunciation. According to Orthodox tradition, the Virgin Mary first received the news from Gabriel that she would bear the Savior while she was out fetching water. The Orthodox Church of St. Gabriel is therefore located over the spring that fed Mary's Well, the traditional place where Mary fetched water for her household.




































































And so we come to the end of my day in Nazareth. If you thought the story of me getting into Nazareth was stressful, you should hear about the story trying to get back into the West Bank. But I'll save that for another time. Here are some random pictures from around the city.