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Tradition says that the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary as she was drawing water. Mary’s Well is Nazareth’s only spring, and is recognized by Orthodox Christians as the site where the Annunciation took place.
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Later, the Gospel of St. John tells of a meeting between Jesus and a Samaritan woman that takes place at Jacob’s Well. Jesus speaks to the Samaritan despite a rift between their two peoples dating back hundreds of years. He offers the woman life everlasting - and through her all the peoples of the world, `whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life’. John 4:14
The spot traditionally associated with this event is at JACOB’S WELL IN SHECHEM (NABLUS), a location that seems to have been marked since the times of the Early Christians, and where a church has stood since a Byzantine structure was erected here in 4th century. Today a Greek Orthodox monastery is built over the ruins of the church, and the well that drops to a depth of about 35 meters.
Other places of interest in Nazareth include The CHURCHES OF THE COPTS AND THE MARONITES, the chapel known as MENSA CHRISTI and THE WHITE MOSQUE, as well as THE SOUK - the market that is the centre of the town’s commercial activities. |
| St. Luke is the only gospel to describe the meeting between the two women in which Mary spoke the famous words that we now know as the Magnificat. Decorated plaques engraved with the immortal words in many languages adorn the walls of the courtyard of the church where that meeting took place in the home of Elisabeth and her husband Zachariah. Zachariah’s statue stands in the pleasant garden surrounding the church. |
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Down the hill from the famed Hadassa Hospital sits the tranquil village of EIN KAREM, Spring of the Vineyard, still set among the wooded hills on the outskirts of Jerusalem.
Although not mentioned by name, according to age-old tradition it was here that Mary came after the angel Gabriel informed her that her cousin, Elisabeth, despite her advanced years, was six months pregnant. It was this visit that gave the main church of the village its name – THE CHURCH OF THE VISITATION |
