Nazareth Attractions
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Nazareth (Hebrew Nazerat, Arabic En-Nasra), the largest Arab town in Israel, lies on the southern edge of the Galilean uplands, above the Jezreel Plain.
As the place where the Archangel Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus to Mary and where Jesus spent most of his life, Nazareth has attracted Christian pilgrims for more than fifteen hundred years.
History
Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, and in pre-Christian times was probably an insignificant village. Excavations from 1955 onwards, however, showed that the hill on which the Church of the Annunciation and St Joseph's Church stand was inhabited from the time of the patriarchs (second millennium B.C.). The little houses of the village were built on top of tombs of the second millennium and underground chambers hewn from the local tufa which had been used in the first half of the first millennium B.C. as store-rooms.
As the place where the Archangel Gabriel announced the birth of Jesus to Mary and where Jesus spent most of his life, Nazareth has attracted Christian pilgrims for more than fifteen hundred years.
History
Nazareth is not mentioned in the Old Testament, and in pre-Christian times was probably an insignificant village. Excavations from 1955 onwards, however, showed that the hill on which the Church of the Annunciation and St Joseph's Church stand was inhabited from the time of the patriarchs (second millennium B.C.). The little houses of the village were built on top of tombs of the second millennium and underground chambers hewn from the local tufa which had been used in the first half of the first millennium B.C. as store-rooms.
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Church of the Annunciation
Although many churches have stood on this site, the present Church of the Annunciation was built in 1969 and is regarded as the most important church of modern times in Israel.