Israel - Penultimate Day

We spent our last full day in Israel touring sites around the Sea of Galilee. It was another scorching day and we started off by heading up into the mountains to the foot of Mount Hermon. It's an old volcano rising to 2814m (almost 10,000 feet) that is often snow-capped despite its latitude at only 33.5 degrees North. The meltwaters percolate down through the ash and rock and emerge in springs that source the river Jordan near Caesarea Philippi.

The site of the springs is an ancient place of worship to the fertility god Pan, as well as a site of government for King Philip, son of Herod the Great. The area is also mentioned in the Gospels when Peter declared Jesus to be the Messiah (Matthew 16:13-16). The water is very clear and I was pleased with this photo of one of the fish in the river. It looks like it is flying!

Next we went to Capernaum on the North shore of the Sea of Galilee. Here we visited the Catholic church located above the archeological ruins of the 1st century building that was probably the house of Peter the Apostle's mother, whom Jesus healed early in his ministry, It was awesome to see this ancient building in juxtaposition with the space-age church suspended up above the ruins. The church has an octagonal glass floor in the centre, the same shape as the ancient building underneath, so that those worshipping today, can see down into the place where one the earliest churches held its gatherings. It was at this site that I felt closest to the place where Jesus walked and talked.




After lunch we headed back to Tiberias and explored the hot springs that were the reason for Tiberias being built between AD17-20 by Herod Antipas, another of the sons of Herod the Great. They still work today although we didn't take the waters. The swimming pool at the hotel was far more attractive. And after dinner we spent our last evening in Israel talking late into the night on the rooftop patio under the moonlight looking out over the town, the darkness of the Sea of Galilee, and the lights on the top of the Golan Heights beyond.