Capernaum (Capharnaum)

(32.881, 35.574)

In contrast to the leap of faith required by many other holy sites around the Sea of Galilee, in Capernaum there were clear and dramatic remnants of an ancient town that had at least visual plausibility of being what they were asserted to be.

In Jesus' time, Kfar Nahum was a thriving town of merchants and fishermen. The apostle Peter lived there and Jesus established the base of his ministry there (Matthew 4), although he would also curse the city for not heeding his message (Matthew 11). Seems that ambivalent feelings about cities are not limited to present-day New Yorkers.

The House of St. Peter is a modernist octagonal structure built over the outline of a Byzantine basilica, which, in turn, was built over ruins attributed to the home of the apostle Peter, that may include a room where Jesus slept.

The adjacent remnants of a synagogue probably dates from the late Byzantine period (4th-5th centuries CE). Although this follows Jesus death by many years, reuse of consecrated ground was common, so the synagogue where Jesus taught may have been on this site. The remnants of an earlier structure exposed in an excavation on the synagogue's southeastern corner may date from Jesus' time.

05/25/2011 12:10 IDT Buses	05/25/2011 12:11 IDT Spina-Christi Tree
05/25/2011 12:11 IDT Pathway	05/25/2011 12:16 IDT Gate
05/25/2011 12:16 IDT Sign	05/25/2011 12:20 IDT Garden
05/25/2011 12:21 IDT Ruins	05/25/2011 12:21 IDT St. Peter
05/25/2011 12:22 IDT St. Peter	05/25/2011 12:23 IDT St. Peter
05/25/2011 12:27 IDT Cornice remnants	05/25/2011 12:27 IDT Cornice remnants
05/25/2011 12:27 IDT Cornice remnants	05/25/2011 12:28 IDT Cornice remnants
05/25/2011 12:29 IDT Minora?	05/25/2011 12:29 IDT Cornice remnants
05/25/2011 12:29 IDT Cornice remnants	05/25/2011 12:32 IDT Magen David?
05/25/2011 12:34 IDT Capernaum	05/25/2011 12:36 IDT Capernaum
05/25/2011 12:36 IDT Capernaum	05/25/2011 12:37 IDT Capernaum
05/25/2011 12:41 IDT Capernaum	05/25/2011 12:41 IDT Capernaum
05/25/2011 12:42 IDT Capernaum	05/25/2011 12:44 IDT Capernaum
05/25/2011 12:44 IDT Capernaum	05/25/2011 12:45 IDT Capernaum
05/25/2011 12:45 IDT Byzantine mosaic	05/25/2011 12:45 IDT Synagogue ruin
05/25/2011 12:47 IDT Site map	05/25/2011 12:47 IDT Site map
05/25/2011 12:50 IDT Synagogue	05/25/2011 12:51 IDT Synagogue
05/25/2011 12:51 IDT Remnant of synagogue from Jesus' time?	05/25/2011 12:52 IDT Synagogue
05/25/2011 12:52 IDT Capernaum	05/25/2011 12:53 IDT Synagogue
05/25/2011 12:53 IDT Synagogue	05/25/2011 12:54 IDT Synagogue
05/25/2011 12:55 IDT Synagogue	05/25/2011 12:56 IDT Capernaum
05/25/2011 12:58 IDT Synagogue	05/25/2011 12:59 IDT Synagogue
05/25/2011 13:00 IDT Synagogue	05/25/2011 13:01 IDT Discussion
05/25/2011 13:03 IDT Capernaum	05/25/2011 13:03 IDT Capernaum
05/25/2011 13:03 IDT Capernaum	05/25/2011 13:04 IDT Capernaum
05/25/2011 13:04 IDT Capernaum	05/25/2011 13:04 IDT Olive press
05/25/2011 13:05 IDT Olive press	05/25/2011 13:05 IDT Capernaum
05/25/2011 13:05 IDT Olive press	05/25/2011 13:09 IDT Capernaum
05/25/2011 13:10 IDT License	05/25/2011 13:10 IDT Leaving

Next: The Golan Heights...