The Holy Land: A Pilgrim's Map

Pilgrims have been walking this land for two thousand years, and the sites themselves are closer together than most people expect.

Around the Sea of Galilee you have the heart of the Gospel story: Nazareth and the Basilica of the Annunciation, Cana, the Mount of Beatitudes, Tabgha with the mosaic of the loaves and fishes, Capernaum with the synagogue and Peter's house, and the Jordan River baptismal site at Yardenit or Qasr al-Yahud.

Along the coast and in the valleys: Caesarea Maritima, where Peter baptised the centurion Cornelius and Paul was imprisoned; Mount Carmel and Muhraka, associated with Elijah; Mount Tabor, traditional site of the Transfiguration; Beit She'an and Megiddo, where the biblical and Roman worlds are stacked layer on layer.

In and around Jerusalem: the Old City and Via Dolorosa, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Upper Room and Mount Zion, Gethsemane, Bethany, Ein Karem, Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity, and the Shepherds' Field.

Then the desert: Qumran and the Dead Sea Scroll caves, Masada above the salt sea, Jericho and the Mount of Temptation.

Our advice for pilgrim groups is to go slower than the brochure suggests. Three well-chosen sites with time to sit, read, and pray beat eight rushed stops. We build Christian itineraries in three, five, and seven day shapes, and we are happy to follow your parish's own reading plan.