Today was the first day of our second stint in the northern region of Israel and the Golan Heights. It was also a special day that almost didn't happen. We had planned a visit to Kfar Kanna, often spelled simply 'Cana' which is located just north of Nazareth. This was the place where Jesus performed his first miracle of turning water into wine at a wedding, as described in the book of John 2:1-11. This village has since become a pilgrimage for weddings from all across the world.
Cana
During planning, I thought it would be a nice idea to renew our wedding vows here. This was a bit more complicated to arrange that I first thought and finding information was a lengthy process, often leading to more questions than I was receiving answers to. The church is Catholic, although they would allow us to get our marriage vows renewed if I could provide my own pastor. Not knowing anyone in Israel, we kept the idea in the background as a potential idea. Fortunately, our friends Sergio and Rhoda, were able to find us some proper specifics which involved us reshuffling our plans in the north a bit, and even better, Rhoda was able to arrange for her father, Suhail, to lead the service.
We arrived at the reception of the church in the rain, where the nun at reception found our name and gave somewhat unclear instructions to 'wait around the side'. The main building (above) is used for many of the large multiple wedding renewal services, where the smaller groups, or private services are taken in one of a few side chapels. We believe the staff forgot about us, so Suhail suggested we just get on with it anyway in a small vacant garden chapel. Rhoda was very thoughtful to provide Vinci with some flowers and they both took a lot of video of the service for us, with Sergio even putting together a very professional video. Suhail led a very beautiful service and we are both eternally grateful for them all for their efforts in making this day a reality.
The church is built on the remains of a house which is believed to be the one where the famous water/wine wedding took place. Underneath the main building is a walk through museum showing many of the artifacts that have been preserved. As we were finishing, a large group had just finished and I had a 30 second window to get a photo of Vinci in the main wedding church before the next group flooded in. The others headed back to Nazareth and we had a quick walk around Cana, having lunch in a brilliant Arab bakery on the main street.
Mount Precipice
Mount Precipice is one of the high points just south of Nazareth. An event that took place, often called the Rejection of Jesus, is described in the Bible (Luke 4:29-30) where Jesus went to the synagogue and read from the book of Isaiah (1:1-2) and then announced that he was the one this section was referring to. The people were infuriated and took him out of the Synagogue to throw him off a cliff. The cliff is said to be Mount Precipice, however this is hotly disputed for a number of very valid reasons, chiefly it would have taken at least a couple of hours to walk here (and it's not really that steep in any case). The real location was most likely a lot closer to Nazareth.
Still, it is a nice place to recall the event and also gives a nice view of Nazareth and the surrounding areas, including Mount Tabor (Mount of Transfiguration). While I was taking photos, Vinci found an opportunity to make friends with a local cat. In 2009, the Pope celebrated Mass here during his visit to the Holy Land with around 40,000 people in attendance.
A view of Nazareth from the top of Mount Precipice is seen below. The Basilica of the Annunciation can be seen in the center. This is the largest church in Israel and was the largest in the middle east until Egypt opened an even larger one last year. It is built over the site where Catholic tradition states is where Mary was told by the angel Gabriel that she would bear the son of God. The site has been the home of a number of churches and the current one was completed only in 1969.
Nazareth Village
Apart from our wedding vow renewal service in the morning, our main goal here was Nazareth Village. We had originally booked our tour here for a few days later, but that of course had to be rearranged on short notice due to our morning in Cana. Fortunately, they were able to slot us in with a small group of private tourists from all over the world.
Nazareth village is essentially an open air museum which shows what life was like in the Galilee during the times of Jesus. The village has been very intricately designed and built using only materials and construction methods that were available at the time. Some of the main attractions are the oil press and a fully constructed synagogue - up to this point, I had only been lucky to see the partial remains of one of these!
The site itself has the remains of a number of original artifacts from the biblical period including quarries, a wine press, farm terraces, and an irrigation system cut into the rock and fed by natural springs. The team have been very careful to preserve the original remains and incorporate them into the village.
The village has all of the key workshops, houses, religious facilities and farms that would be part of daily life for the people. The entire scene comes together with the staff who are dressed in period costume and have a specialty in a trade or skill. The village keep sheep, goats and a donkey on the farm and are very well looked after.
There are a number of workshops and small industries inside the village. Each one uses tools and equipment from the time of course and visitors are invited to try some of the methods demonstrated by the staff. Some of the workshops include textiles, pottery and carpentry. Some of the products made here are available to purchase in the gift shop.
I tried my hand at a 2000 year old hand drill with reasonable success in Joseph's workshop and successfully drilled three small holes with great accuracy. Joseph didn't seem particularly interested in my range of Ryobi and Makita range of 18v Li-on power tools. Vinci had a go at spinning wool in the textiles shop and undid about 7 hours of work. I could tell from the look on Mary's face that she wanted to strangle her, but Vinci was protected by a huge purple jacket - considered back then to be the color of Royal's due to the intense process and expense required to recreate the color - and Mary was clearly too afraid to say anything.
The tour is by guide only and must be pre-booked in advance. If you are part of a larger group, you also have the chance to try one of their Biblical meals using recipes from 2,000 years ago! As for sole travelers like us though, this is a gamble and unfortunately wasn't an option for us. It was fascinating to get a glimpse into how life would have been like all those years ago and is a highly recommended if you find yourself in Nazareth some day.
"When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? ... And they took offense at him." - Mark 6:2-3
Nazareth
In the evening Sergio and Rhoda joined us for a quick walk around the town in the main square. The city was very quiet as it was the Sabbath and most of the shops had shut. The huge church above is the Basilica of Annunciation, a Catholic church built over the site believed to be where angel Gabriel told Mary she was going to be a mum.
We visited Mary's near the Greek Orthodox church. The well was reconstructed in the 1960's and again in the year 2000 to a similar design of what stood here hundreds of years ago. The original remains of the ancient well can still be seen behind the current facade. It no longer functions as a well, however the spring is still active and is located inside the Greek Orthodox church just behind. Rhoda took Vinci and I for a look at this spring during a service. Today people throw money or photos of loves ones into the well, hoping for some divine intervention.
We joined Sergio and Rhoda for fellowship in the evening at the small church near their home. The service was led by her father Suhail, who only hours earlier had blessed our marriage in Cana. The service was in Arabic, and Rhoda kindly translated the entire service for us. How she managed to keep up with it all, I'll never know. We ended the night with shots of Arabic coffee before the long drive back to our cottage in Had Nes.
"Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote - Jesus of Nazareth,the son of Joseph."
- John 1:45
Continue to Part 18 - click here