Tabgha - Monastery of the Sermon on the Mount

Between the roads leading to the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and the Chapel of the Primacy in Tabgha, immediately north of the Capernaum road, are the remains of the small Monastery of the Sermon on the Mount, founded in the fourth century at about the same time as the first Church of the Multiplication and Chapel of the Primacy. On the south side of the complex are the conventual buildings, on the north side the church, the apse of which, with benches for the priests, projects beyond the enclosure wall. This little aisleless church measures only 7.20m/24ft by 4.48m/15ft. The narthex and nave had mosaic pavements (remains in the archeological park at Capernaum). The square sacristy on the north side is entirely hewn from the native rock. The church, built of basalt, with an altar of white marble, existed until the beginning of the Muslim period (seventh century); in 1938 it was replaced by a new church higher up on the Mount of the Beatitudes.