Holy in the Holy Land: 9 of the Most Beautiful Churches in Israel
Holy in the Holy Land: 9 of the Most Beautiful Churches in Israel
As the Judeo-Christian holy land, Israel is filled with churches.
While the Church of Mary Magdalene, Church of the Holy Sepulcher and the Church of the Nativity may be the most famous, the churches and monasteries listed below house many relics, including ancient ruins, Medieval artwork and the tombs of several saints and apostles.
Some are in fairytale locations with breathtaking views, from the heart of the desert to mountaintops overlooking Israel’s seas. Others, however, warrant stripping down to your bathing suit for a quick spiritual dip.
Temples of swoon: The stunning gravity-defying cliffside monasteries that look like sets from Indiana Jones movies
St George s Monastery juts out of a cliff in a desert gorge around 35 minutes by car from Jerusalem
Highlights of the monastery include the gorge views, two churches, a cave chapel and the relics of monks
The monastery at the Mount of Temptation clings to the contours of a cliff at an elevation of 1,150ft
9 of the most beautiful churches in Israel
Just in time for Christmas, we’ve got a list of nine of Israel’s most interesting and beautiful historically significant churches (and it’s probably not what you were expecting).
December 20, 2020, 8:00 am
View of the Dome of the Rock from a window of Dominus Flevit Church in Jerusalem. Photo via Shutterstock.co
Israel is filled with churches. After all, this holy land is where everything you read about in the Bible took place.
Sure, you’ve got to check out the most famous of them all: The gold-domed Church of Mary Magdalene and Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, for example.
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Report by Negotiations Affairs Department/ Ramallah/
From Jericho, the oldest city still inhabited, to the first place of religious pilgrimage in Jerusalem, Palestine’s geography has many of the world’s richest archeological sites. Palestine’s historical and cultural heritage is a source of national pride that has molded the country’s national, cultural, social, and economic identity. The Israeli occupation does not only deny Palestine’s cultural potential and other resources but has weaponized archeology as a political tool to normalize its occupation, annexation plans, looting of artifacts, and an extremist Zionist religious-fundamentalist and historically erroneous narrative.
The State of Palestine recognizes around 7,000 archeological sites in its territory[2], of which over half are located in areas under full Israeli control[3]. This includes over 200 sites taken over by illegal colonial-settlements and other 1,000 sites either damaged or destroyed due to Israel