Capernaum

Domus Galilaeae or House of Galilee, located on the peak of Mount of Beatitudes, above and north of Capernaum and the Sea of Galilee, is a Christian meeting place used for seminars and conventions, run by the Neocatechumenal Way. On his pilgrimage to Israel in 2000, Pope John Paul II visited Domus Galilaeae and said he hoped it would become a place for interreligious dialogue.
Domus Galilaeae employs about 150 people full-time, including labourers, technicians, and volunteers. There are 37 Arab Christian workers, 32 Arab Muslims, 21 Jewish technicians, 20 Druzes, and 10 Maronites.

The building was constructed in a short period of time, with the first stone being laid in January 1999 and the opening of the site taking place in 2000. It was inaugurated by the Pope John Paul II in his Millennium visit to the Holy Land. In the centre of the library is an ancient Torah. The architect used traditional Tuscan building stone, "pietra serena" limestone and "pietra forte colombino" sandstone, polished and processed with great attention to detail.

The centre is envisaged as a place where Christians will learn about the living tradition of Israel, following the footsteps of early Christian saints "who returned to their Hebrew roots to understand the meaning of prayer, of feasts, and Hebrew liturgies". John Paul II, who exemplified a new era of affinity between Catholics and Jews, emphasised the need to appreciate Jewish roots in order to live-out authentic Christianity; he explicitly endorsed the continuing life and vitality of the Jewish faith and prayed for Jewish continuance.

Capernaum remained virtually abandoned from the early Moslem period until the Franciscans bought the land in the late 19th century.The remains of Capernaum were not rediscovered until the 19th century. In 1893 2/3 of the site in the Holy Land was acquired by Franciscans/Grey Friars while the other third was purchased by the Greek Orthodox.  . The Franciscans built a fence, planted palms and eucalyptus trees from Australia and built a small harbor. Most of the early excavations (1905-26) and restorations were conducted by Franciscans. St. Peter’s House was discovered only in 1968. The project “Capernaum- the city of Jesus in the Holy Land” is to conserve and restore the “town of Jesus in the Holy Land” as an archaeological and biblical site, bringing to bear its spiritual message.

The Greek Orthodox Church of the Holy Apostles, in common use simply Church of the Apostles is the church at the centre of the Greek Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Apostles at Capernaum, standing among the ruins of ancient Capernaum (Kfar Nachum) near the shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel. It is also known as simply the Greek Orthodox church at Capernaum, to differentiate it from the Franciscan monastery standing in the southern part of Capernaum. It is sometimes named as the Church of the Seven Apostles, based on the seven disciples mentioned in John 21 but it is actually dedicated to all the twelve apostles of Jesus.

The church marks the site of the ancient village of Capernaum, which is an important place in Christianity. The village is frequently mentioned in the Gospels and was Jesus' main base during his Galilean ministry. It is referred to as Jesus' own city and a place where he lived. It was in the synagogue of Capernaum where he first started to preach.

Those who claim that the church is dedicated the seven apostles (or rather five apostles and two more disciples), base it on the Gospel of John, chapter 21. The church is actually dedicated to all twelve apostles, which also make sense due to the long stay of Jesus and his closest disciples in Capernaum.

The church is situated in the more recent, north-eastern part of the ruined ancient town, which is where the inhabitants relocated after the destruction of the old town from the time of Jesus, as a result of either the 749 Galilee earthquake or of a man-made event of the 7th or 8th century.

According to Luke's Gospel, the Capernaum synagogue at the time of Jesus' ministry had been built or funded by a Roman centurion based there.

The ruins of a later building, among the oldest synagogues in the world, were identified by Charles William Wilson. The large, ornately carved, white building stones of the synagogue stood out prominently among the smaller, plain blocks of local black basalt used for the town's other buildings, almost all residential. The synagogue was built almost entirely of white blocks of calcareous stone brought from distant quarries.

The synagogue appears to have been built around the 4th or 5th century. Beneath the foundation of this synagogue lies another foundation made of basalt, and Loffreda suggests that this is the foundation of a synagogue from the 1st century, perhaps the one mentioned in the Gospels. Later excavation work was attempted underneath the synagogue floor, but while Loffreda claimed to have found a paved surface, others are of the opinion that this was an open, paved market area.

The building consists of four parts: the praying hall, the western patio, a southern balustrade and a small room at the northwest of the building. The praying hall measured 24.40 m by 18.65 m, with the southern face looking toward Jerusalem. The internal walls were covered with painted plaster and fine stucco work found during the excavations. Watzinger, like Orfali, believed that there had been an upper floor reserved for women, with access by means of an external staircase located in the small room. But this opinion was not substantiated by the later excavations of the site.

The ancient synagogue has two inscriptions, one in Greek and the other in Aramaic, that commemorate the benefactors that helped in the construction of the building. There are also carvings of five- and six-pointed stars and of palm trees.

In 1926, the Franciscan Father Gaudenzio Orfali began the restoration of the synagogue. The work was interrupted by his death in a car accident in 1926 (which is commemorated by a Latin inscription carved onto one of the synagogue's columns), and was continued by Virgilio Corbo beginning in 1976.

The St. Peter's Church also called the Pilgrimage Church of St. Peter in Capernaum is a modern Catholic pilgrimage church found in the archaeological site of Capernaum, northern Israel. The church is part of the Franciscan monastery in Capernaum. It is dedicated to St. Peter, which Catholics consider the first leader of the Church.

Archaeological excavations carried out in this place discovered another layer of residential structures, on which the first half of a first century church was built. It is considered "the first church in the world" and believed it could be the place where the house of the Apostle Peter was. In the 5th century an octagonal church was built in its place. In 1990 a church of modern pilgrimage was built over the remains of the ancient temples.

The Pilgrimage Church of St. Peter is located in the central part of the archaeological site of Capernaum, at an altitude of 195 meters on the west coast north of the Sea of Galilee, in the depression of the Jordan Valley, in northern Israel.

Built in 1989 by T R Freeman Ltd, team including Martin Grant, Mick Galloni, Mick Parkes, Doug Claxton and Graham Grant