Come to Israel, Day 4 ends - (2019)

Our final stop of the day was the last town on the lake, Capernaum. Also, the first town inside of Galilee from the border. It is on the Via Maris, which is the main road going south.

It is known as The Town of Jesus, because Jesus stayed here a lot and travelled away and back again. Leo said he was able to do great things here and become known throughout the land from here because it was the first town from “the border”. (Capernaum was the first town on the main trade route connecting Damascus and Egypt)

This meant that peoples from all over would stop here for supplies, so they would learn of Jesus, hearing of his miracles – including the one of the men who was healed after being dropped through the roof. Leo said we know this because it is the only town in the area where the roofs are not solid but have thatched roofs made of mud and straw.

The section of town that we were in was a massive dig site… but prior to going over into that area, was a very large square, filled with trees, tables, benches, stone stools and bronze artwork, leading up to the Church of St. Peter.

We sat outside on benches set up in circles under a tree while Leo spoke of Capernaum and to the church dedicated to St. Peter, here. 

Then we walked over to St. Peter’s church, which was completely built over the ruins of the house of St. Peter, in the shape of an octagon.

The entire center of the church is railed off glass, covering the remains of St. Peter’s house – if you look closely you can see the massive glass dividing the sections of the house beneath.

We were able to see and take pictures from above it.

Leo explained that houses here were built in a circle and, as children were born, rooms were added off the circle.  All of the houses were built like that, so there are no straight roads. 

Two sections of the main room of the house.  The main room was in the center of the house, with smaller rooms built around them.

Two views of the main room, and on the right, a smaller one.

Here you can see how the church was built over the entire House, to preserve it.

From the outside, a gateway, locked at this time, led to St. Peter’s house (the lighter, rounded wall) under the church.  We could see this clearly as Leo led us along a walkway, around the church to the ruins of the original town. 

The village runs behind the church (Peter’s house would have been closer to the water, as he was a fisherman.  Remains of the pillars of the synagogue (originally also built over Peter’s house) can be seen running up to the church.

I have many, many pictures of the dig, but the best I found was online, of the town behind the church…which shows the outside of he church, too.

Before we left, we spent time walking along the rocky beach, which was just outside of the church and St. Peter’s house.

Finally, beyond the ruins, facing the water was a large square with a statue of St. Peter with the statement, “Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build my church”.

Because of the late daylight, it was impossible to get a good picture of the statue, but easy to capture Jesus’ words.

By the time we headed back to our hotel, we were all happily exhausted and looking forward to what tomorrow would bring…