Nazareth, Israel















 I woke up early to catch a bus to Nazareth, where Jesus may have grown up, studied and lived most of his life. I walked uphill to store my bag at a hostel since there was no locker in the central bus station. Unfortunately, most of the religious buildings are open only on Saturday and Sunday, such as these sites include the Greek Orthodox Church of the Archangel Gabriel (built over the freshwater spring known as "Mary’s Well"), the Greek Catholic "Synagogue Church" (assumed site of the synagogue where the young Jesus was taught, and where he later read from Isaiah), and the Franciscan Church of St. Joseph (built over a cave identified since the 17th century as the "workshop" of Joseph).  Therefore, I only got in the Basilica of the Annunciation that is built above the sunken grotto which according to the Roman Catholic faith was the home of the Virgin Mary and the place where she received the Annunciation (the announcement of the imminent birth of Jesus).

Nazareth is also Israel’s largest Arab city and as such serves as a major cultural center. Nevertheless, shops in old city market were mostly closed due to lack of business. It was hot to walk around the town so I bailed out after 2.5 hours.

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