Jesus Trail
| Jesus Trail | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Tabgha pool, Jesus Trail | |
| Length | Approx. 65 km (40 miles) |
| Location | Northern Israel |
| Use | Hiking |
| Trail difficulty | Moderate to strenuous |
| Sights | Basic Route: Nazareth, Sepphoris, Cana, Hattin, Arbel, Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Tabgha, Mount of Beatitudes; Alternate return route: Tiberias, Jordan River, Mount Tabor, and Mount Precipice. |
The Jesus Trail is a 65 km (40 mile) hiking and pilgrimage route in the Galilee region of Israel that traces the route Jesus may have walked, connecting many sites from his life and ministry. The main part of the trail begins in Nazareth, which is the largest Arab city in Israel, and passes through Sepphoris, Cana (Kafr Kanna), the Horns of Hattin, Mount Arbel Cliffs, the Sea of Galilee, Capernaum, Tabgha, and the Mount of Beatitudes. An alternate return route passes by Tiberias, the Jordan River, Mount Tabor, and Mount Precipice. [1] The trail encompasses areas of Arab Christian and Muslim, Jewish, and Druze dwellings. The Jesus Trail is located entirely within the pre-1967 borders of the State of Israel.
Contents |
[edit] History
The trail was founded in 2007 by two hiking enthusiasts, Maoz Inon, a Jewish Israeli entrepreneur who has established hostels and guesthouses in Israel, and David Landis, a Christian American hiking specialist.[2] The actual marking of the trail took place in 2009. It is currently managed and promoted largely by the work of volunteers, and is a non-profit project.[3]
The trail is a public trail and free for anyone who wants to hike it and camp along its course. The Jesus Trail is marked with a blaze of three stripes painted on rocks along the way (white, orange, and white). When portions of the Jesus Trail combine with other trails (such as the Israel National Trail), an additional orange circle is added to the previous trail marker. All marking of the trail was completed by the public Israel Trails Committee (ITC) which works in conjunction with a non-profit organization known as the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI).[4] Trail maintenance and cleaning up has been a combined effort of international, national, and local organizations including JNF-KKL (The Jewish National Fund), the Fauzi Azar Inn in Nazareth, village schools, and international volunteers.[5]
The biblical reference for the Jesus Trail is based on a verse from the New Testament Gospel of Matthew wherein at the start of Jesus' public ministry he is described as moving from his home-town of Nazareth, located in the hills of the Galilee, down to Capernaum which was a lakeside fishing village on the Sea of Galilee, where Jesus is described as gathering his first disciples. The account is also related in the two other synoptic gospels of Mark and Luke. The reference in the Gospel of Matthew reads: "Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum which was by the lake." (Matthew 4:13).
According to the Gospels, Capernaum became the home-base for Jesus' ministry: "And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city [referring to Capernaum]." (Matthew 9:1); also: "And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home." (Mark 2:1).
The Jesus Trail was designed in the tradition of pilgrimage hiking trails around the world, such as the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (the Way of Saint James) in northern Spain and the Saint Paul Trail in Turkey. The medieval practice of religious pilgrimage has seen a resurgence in recent years, with almost 200,000 hikers per year on the Camino de Santiago in the first decade of the twenty-first century. [6]
[edit] Sections of the trail
The geography and distances involved naturally allow the Jesus Trail to be walked as a series of day-hikes for a total of 4 days, with each day's hike being between 13 to 19 km (8 to 12 mi) in length.
- Day 1: Nazareth to Cana via Sepphoris
- Day 2: Cana to Kibbutz Lavi
- Day 3: Kibbutz Lavi to Moshav Arbel
- Day 4: Moshav Arbel to Capernaum via Mount of Beatitudes
[edit] Details of the 4 sections
Day 1: Nazareth to Cana via Sepphoris - The Jesus Trail starts in center of the Arab city of Nazareth at the Basilica or Church of the Annunciation, goes through the small Old City of Nazareth and then ascends via steep stairways to the ridge overlooking the city. From there the trail goes out into agricultural fields towards the extensively excavated ancient city of Sepphoris (Zippori). After passing through the small Arab town of Mashhad the trail arrives at the small Arab city of Cana, known in Arabic as Kafr Kanna, which is the traditional site for the New Testament account of Jesus turning water into wine.
Day 2: Cana to Kibbutz Lavi - After leaving Cana (Kafr Kanna), the trail goes almost entirely along forests and through natural and cultivated fields to end at the outskirts of the modern Jewish agricultural commune (Hebrew: kibbutz) of Lavi, which is located near the hill of the Horns of Hattin.
Day 3: Kibbutz Lavi to Moshav Arbel - This hike goes from hilltop to hilltop, from the panoramic view at the Horns of Hattin, past the Druze shrine of Nabi Shu'ayb in the small Arbel Valley, through striking scenery of a historically dense landscape, to end nearby the Jewish agricultural cooperative (Hebrew: moshav) of Arbel.
Day 4: Moshav Arbel to Capernaum via Mount of Beatitudes - After ascending Mount Arbel there is a climb down the cliff to come out on a small fertile agricultural plain adjacent to the lake which is known as the Sea of Galilee. Then the Jesus Trail arrives at the northern shore of the lake to the church at Tabgha which commemorates the New Testament account of Jesus' feeding of the multitudes, then to the church and gardens at the Mount of Beatitudes which commemorates Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and then finally arriving at the ancient lakeside fishing village of Capernaum with its extensive ruins and modern church.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (2010). 1:50,000 topographical map #3, "Lower Galilee" (Hebrew language map)
- ^ Catholic News Service- In northern Israel, walking from village to village, like Jesus
- ^ Haaretz- Five Stops in the Galilee
- ^ Washington Post- Israel's New Jesus Trail Takes Visitors Into Countryside
- ^ Jerusalem Post- Cleanup Day 2009 Cleaning Up the World - In Israel!
- ^ DISTRIBUCIÓN DE LOS PEREGRINOS (Statistics in Spanish language from the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela.)
[edit] Further reading
- Hareuveni, Nogah (1984). Tree and Shrub in Our Biblical Heritage. Neot Kedumim.
- Reed, Jonathan L. (2002). Archaeology and the Galilean Jesus: A Re-examination of the Evidence. Trinity Press International.
- Wright, N. T. (1999). The Way of the Lord: Christian Pilgrimage Today. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.
- Landis, David; Dintaman, Anna (2010). Hiking the Jesus Trail: And Other Biblical Walks in the Galilee. Village to Village Press.
[edit] External links
Official sites
