Nazareth is located in the hills in the center of the Galilee. The modern city of Nazareth was built over the old village, and few archaeological remains are left from the times of Jesus.
1) Basilica of the Annunciation
The largest Basilica in the Middle East. It’s where angel Gabriel told Mary that she was going to bear a son, and he was to be called Jesus.
Luke 1:28 "And the angel came in to her, and said, Hail, you that are highly favored, the Lord is with you: blessed are you among women."
2) Mary's Well
Mary's Well is located in the center of the downtown Nazareth.
It is found just below the Church of the Annunciation. The well was built over a spring that served the Palestinian villagers for years. This was the place where Virgin Mary was announced by the angel Gabriel that she will have a son of God.
3) St. Joseph’s Workshop
St. Joseph’s Church, located adjacent and north to the Basilica, is built according to early traditions over St. Joseph’s carpenter workshop, and later on redefined as the house of the holy family and Virgin’s Fountain, where it is said that the virgin washed the swaddling clothes of our Lord.
4) Synagogue Church
Built by the Crusaders, this church is the site of the synagogue where Jesus first learned, prayed and later preached as a young man.
Luke 4:15-16 "And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read."
5) Mensa Christi Church
In this Franciscan church, you can observe the table of the Lord (Mensa Christi), which was the rock on which Jesus ate with his disciples after rising from the dead.
Mark 16: 14: "Afterward he appeared unto the eleven as they sat at meat, and upbraided them with their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they believed not them which had seen him after he was risen".
Where is Nazareth located?
The location of Nazareth is in the Galilee, the green and hilly north of the Holy Land. The city sits in a natural bowl in the hills, about fifteen miles west of the Sea of Galilee and twenty miles from the Mediterranean coast. In the time of Jesus it was a small farming village of perhaps a few hundred people, set apart from the main trade roads, which is exactly why Nathanael asked, "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Today it is the largest Arab city in Israel and home to one of the oldest Christian communities on earth.
Nazareth in the Roman period
Archaeology shows us what the village looked like in the Roman period, when Mary and Joseph raised Jesus there. Families lived in simple stone homes built around shared courtyards, with cisterns cut into the rock for water and caves used for storage and workshops. Just four miles away, the Roman city of Sepphoris was being rebuilt during the years of Jesus’ youth, and many scholars believe that Joseph, a craftsman, may have found work there. Pilgrims can still see the remains of that first century village preserved beneath the churches of the city, closest of all at the site of the Annunciation, where the excavated grotto sits directly under the great basilica.
Want to walk these streets yourself? Plan a pilgrimage to the Holy Land and explore Nazareth, the Sea of Galilee, Bethlehem, and Jerusalem in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
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