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On the streets of Israel - the way to Nazareth.


Nazareth is the capital and largest city in the
North District of Israel. It also serves as an
unofficial Arab capital for Israel's Arab citizens who
make up the vast majority of the population there.
In the New Testament, the city is described as the
childhood home of Jesus, and as such is a center of
Christian pilgrimage, with many shrines commemorating
biblical associations.

Modern-day Nazareth is nestled in a natural bowl which
reaches from 320 m above sea level to the crest of the
hills about 490 m. It is located between hills that
form the most southerly points of the Lebanon mountain
range. Nazareth is about 25km from the Sea of Galilee
and about 9km west from Mount Tabor. The Nazareth
Range, in which the town lies, is the southernmost of
several parallel east-west hill ranges that
characterize the elevated tableau of Lower Galilee.

Archaeological research has revealed a funerary and
cult center at Kfar HaHoresh, about 3km from Nazareth,
dating back roughly 9000 years. The remains of some 65
individuals were found, buried under huge horizontal
headstone structures, some of which consisted of up to
3 tons of locally-produced white plaster.

According to Luke, Nazareth was the home of Joseph and
Mary and the site of the Annunciation, when Mary was
told by the Angel Gabriel that she would have Jesus as
her son. Nazareth is also where Jesus grew up from
some point in his childhood. In the Gospel of Matthew,
Joseph and Mary settle in Nazareth after returning to
Israel from Egypt. Many modern scholars argue that
Nazareth is probably, in fact, where Jesus was born.


[from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nazareth]