Haifa – part of the biblical Holy Land of Israel
The third largest city in Israel and with a population of 290,000, it is home to the Baha’i faith and a UNESCO World Heritage Site (yes another one!). Built on the slopes of Mount Carmel it has been ruled by the Canaanites, the Israelites, the Phoenicians, the Assyrians and the British. It is home to Matam, one of the oldest high-tech parks in the country and the recipient of 4 Nobel prizes, and is a centre of heavy industry, petroleum, refining and chemical processing and also thrives on its tourism industry.
In Israel, the first language is Hebrew, then all children study English and Arabic in school. Military service is compulsory for both boys and girls when they turn 18 years, 3 years for the boys and 2 years for the girls. There are no homeless people in Israel, by law it is the State’s duty to give them a house. There is so much history around this city I couldn’t begin to blog about it all so if you are keen to know more then I will have to leave it up to you to get onto google!
Saturday 20 May – we started our day with another early start for our tour to Nazareth and the Sea of Galilee. Saturday is a holy day in Israel so a good day to get out with not much traffic. After having been in very hot, arid, desert climates for the last two weeks, it was a very pleasant surprise to see how verdant it is here – with a great computerised irrigation system - 30% of it coming from the Sea of Galilee, we drove past acres of beautifully cultivated fields. In the last 100 years, 340 million trees have been planted and they are now reaping the benefits from them – bananas, avocados, melons, mangoes, oranges (“Jaffa” of course!), vineyards and olive trees. Interesting fact, Jesus’ cross was made from the wood of olive trees and it is necessary to get government permission to chop them down. When you do so, the wood has to be in the sunshine for 5 years before it is solid enough to use. We did also see a number of bibles with beautiful wooden covers, all handmade, so very personal. So many crops and such a beautiful landscape with forests of jackals, coyotes, deer, wild boar and gazelles – the total opposite from where we have sailed from. It was a lovely scenic drive to Nazareth, our first stop on the tour, and the town itself was vibrant, full of shops and cafés the streets are old and therefore quite narrow which made it quite challenging for the coach driver.
We visited the Basilica of the Annunciation first – a beautiful church established on the site where it is claimed the Annunciation took place when the angel Gabriel appeared to the Virgin Mary and announced she would give birth to Jesus. The church is a two-storey building with the upper level containing a number of images of Mary, and the lower level containing the Grotto of the Annunciation, believed by many Christians to be the remains of the original childhood home of Mary. On the walls enclosing the courtyard of the basilica there is a gallery with icons of the Madonna, mainly in mosaics (some with over 23,000 pieces), but also some made of ceramic tiles, representing some of the most important Marian devotions in different countries. The wooden entrance doors are beautifully carved, showing, anti-clockwise, the story of the life of Jesus from birth to crucifixion, carved, because in those days people couldn’t read or write. Across the grounds is a smaller church, the Church of St Joseph, built in 1914 on the site of the earlier 12th century church which had been built on the location of the carpentry shop of Joseph, it is now identified as “The House of Joseph”.
Next stop was at the Magdala Hotel situated in the first century town of Magdala on the shores of the Sea of Galilee and Mt Arbel where we had the most delicious lunch of traditional Israeli cuisine including hummus, tahini, shakshuka, and falafel which set us up for our next stop of the afternoon….
Another drive to the Church of the Beatitudes, a Roman Catholic church located on the Mount of the Beatitudes by the Sea of Galilee near Tabgha and Capernaum. This is the “mount” from which Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount and outside the church is a stone wine press where the grapes were trampled in bare feet so as to protect the seeds, and an olive press. This is the place where Jesus performed a miracle and turned 5 loaves and 2 fishes to feed a large crowd of 5,000 of his disciples. Interestingly, our guide said it would have been more than 5,000 as this number was men only, but there would have been women and children too. The spot where this happened is commemorated under the altar. Both Popes Paul VI and John Paul II celebrated Mass at this church during their pastoral visits to the Holy Land and the road they both walked to the church has now been christened the Popes’ Promenade.
Our final stop of the day was to the River Jordan, the source of all holy water in Christianity, to the Yardenit Baptismal Site where John the Baptist baptised Jesus and where many Christians come to be baptised. Situated on the southern shore of the Sea of Galilee, close to Tiberias, it receives over half a million visitors every year, some of whom choose to undergo a baptism which they believe will wash their sins away. It is a beautiful, peaceful site, surrounded by eucalyptus trees and lovely flora and fauna. We witnessed some young children being baptised whilst we were there, and many pilgrims dressed in white, praying in the river.
Sunday 20 May – our second day in Haifa started with a short coach ride up to Mt Carmel the “holy mountain” and the centre of idol worship as the scene of Elijah’s confrontation with the false prophets of Baal. A beautiful spot to take in most of Haifa looking across the bay towards ‘Akko (Acre) and to have a bird’s eye view of the Baha’i gardens which comprise of a staircase of 19 terraces extending all the way up the northern slope of Mt Carmel and the golden domed Shrine of the Bab, the resting place of the Prophet-Herald of the Baha’i Faith. 50 volunteer gardeners look after these stunning gardens and they are a spiritual focal point for the Baha’i pilgrims who travel to pray at this sacred spot.
Next up, a lovely scenic drive along the coast of the Mediterranean to ‘Akko or Acre. This city occupies a strategic location sitting on a natural harbour at the extreme end of Haifa Bay and is one of the oldest continuously inhabited settlements on earth. It has been subject to conquest and destruction several times and survived. It represents a tumultuous history of the Land of Israel having been shaped by the Romans, the Ottomans, Crusaders, Mamelukes, Byzantines and British and today it is home to a briliant co-existant mixed population of Jews, Christians and Muslims. It was an important city during the Crusades and the site of several battles, and it was the last city held by the Crusaders in the Levant before it was captured in 1291. In recognition of the Crusader town, the old city of ‘Akko is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The ruins are both above and below street level and citadels, mosques, khans and baths have all been preserved. These sites were built on top of the ruins of the Crusader structures and ‘Akko has been extensively excavated and conserved over the past ten years.
Painstaking excavation and restoration allowed us to explore the underground passageways – The Templars’ Tunnel built by the Knights Templar, a Christian Military order, which connects the main fortress with the port and is one of the ‘Akko’s most visited sites with an underground stream and impressive domed ceiling. Massive Crusader halls (one even available for hire for special events!), tunnels, chambers and a prisoners’ hall – it seemed huge to us but according to Crusader City maps found in the Vatican library, only about 4% of this city has been recovered.
Next stop was at an artisan shop set up by a David Miro, part of a Jewish family from Mosul in Iraq who had moved to ‘Akko in 1950. His grandson, a lovely young man, gave us a demonstration of a unique style of art called copper artwork, in minutes he crafted a piece of copper into a bracelet, with their unique style of motifs from Judaism and the Holy Land. I took a few photos of him at work and lucky me – because I was standing right next to him, he gifted me this exquisite piece!
A little bit of free time after this allowed us to have quick, tasty shawarma lunch at a local café before we hot-footed it back through the market and onto our bus and home from home, the Viking Mars. This was our last tour of the cruise and a pretty impressive one too.