Nazareth from Mount Precipice I
The incredibly atmospheric Old City in Nazareth really does manage to meet tourist expectations. But Nazareth is a big, modern, growing city of shopping malls and dual carriageways, with a population of 100,000 and the centre of cultural and political life for Arabs in Israel proper. A great way to appreciate it in all its aspects is to take in the view from Mount Precipice (395 m above sea level).
Mount Precipice is said to be where Jesus was chased after preaching a very unpopular sermon at the Nazareth Synagogue – when the crowd tried to throw him off Mount Precipice's steep cliffs: "They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way." (Luke 4: 29–30)
On top of the ridge above the old city is the modern minaret (2009) and onion dome of the Nebi Saeen Mosque, and to its right, the red roof and white tower of the St Gabriel Hotel. Further to the left is the 1906-23 Salesian Church, the Basilica of Jesus the Adolescent. On the lower slopes, the Annunciation Basilica is very obvious - and huge. The Synagogue Church and Christ Church Anglican are visible to its left if one knows what one is looking for. Finally on the left are the green dome and minaret of the modern Al-Sadiq Mosque.
Nazareth from Mount Precipice I
The incredibly atmospheric Old City in Nazareth really does manage to meet tourist expectations. But Nazareth is a big, modern, growing city of shopping malls and dual carriageways, with a population of 100,000 and the centre of cultural and political life for Arabs in Israel proper. A great way to appreciate it in all its aspects is to take in the view from Mount Precipice (395 m above sea level).
Mount Precipice is said to be where Jesus was chased after preaching a very unpopular sermon at the Nazareth Synagogue – when the crowd tried to throw him off Mount Precipice's steep cliffs: "They got up, drove him out of the town, and led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, so that they might hurl him off the cliff. But he passed through the midst of them and went on his way." (Luke 4: 29–30)
On top of the ridge above the old city is the modern minaret (2009) and onion dome of the Nebi Saeen Mosque, and to its right, the red roof and white tower of the St Gabriel Hotel. Further to the left is the 1906-23 Salesian Church, the Basilica of Jesus the Adolescent. On the lower slopes, the Annunciation Basilica is very obvious - and huge. The Synagogue Church and Christ Church Anglican are visible to its left if one knows what one is looking for. Finally on the left are the green dome and minaret of the modern Al-Sadiq Mosque.