The Jesus Trail (, ''Sh'víl Yeshú'') is a

hiking A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time. "Hi ...

and

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

route in the

Galilee Galilee (; ; ; ) is a region located in northern Israel and southern Lebanon consisting of two parts: the Upper Galilee (, ; , ) and the Lower Galilee (, ; , ). ''Galilee'' encompasses the area north of the Mount Carmel-Mount Gilboa ridge and ...

region of

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

that traces the route

Jesus Jesus (AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Chris ...

may have walked, connecting many sites from his life and ministry. The main part of the trail begins in

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

and passes through

Sepphoris Sepphoris ( ; ), known in Arabic as Saffuriya ( ) and in Hebrew as Tzipori ( ''Ṣīppōrī'')Palmer (1881), p115/ref> is an archaeological site and former Palestinian village located in the central Galilee region of Israel, north-northwe ...

, Cana (

Kafr Kanna Kafr Kanna (, ''Kafr Kanā''; ) is an Arab town in the Galilee, part of the Northern District of Israel. It is associated by Christians with the New Testament village of Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine. In its population was . It ...

), the

Horns of Hattin The Horns of Hattin ( ) is an extinct volcano with twin peaks overlooking the plains of Hittin, Hattin in the Lower Galilee, Israel. It is most famous as the site of the Battle of Hattin (1187). History and archaeology Excavations were carrie ...

, Mount Arbel Cliffs, the

Sea of Galilee The Sea of Galilee (, Judeo-Aramaic languages, Judeo-Aramaic: יַמּא דטבריא, גִּנֵּיסַר, ), also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth ...

Capernaum Capernaum ( ; ; ) was a fishing village established during the time of the Hasmoneans, located on the northern shore of the Sea of Galilee. It had a population of about 1,500 in the 1st century AD. Archaeological excavations have revealed tw ...

Tabgha Tabgha (, ''al-Tabigha''; , ''Ein Sheva'' which means "spring of seven") is an area situated on the north-western shore of the Sea of Galilee in Israel and a depopulated Palestinian village. It is traditionally accepted as the place of the feedi ...

, and the Mount of Beatitudes. An alternate return route passes by

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

, the

Jordan River The Jordan River or River Jordan (, ''Nahr al-ʾUrdunn''; , ''Nəhar hayYardēn''), also known as ''Nahr Al-Sharieat'' (), is a endorheic river in the Levant that flows roughly north to south through the Sea of Galilee and drains to the Dead ...

Mount Tabor Mount Tabor ( ; ; ), sometimes spelled Mount Thabor, is a large hill of biblical significance in Lower Galilee, Northern District (Israel), northern Israel, at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, west of the Sea of Galilee. In the Hebrew Bi ...

, and Mount Precipice.

History

The trail was founded in 2007 by two hiking enthusiasts: Maoz Inon, a Jewish Israeli entrepreneur who has established hostels and guesthouses in Israel, and David Landis, a Christian American hiking specialist. The actual marking of the trail took place in 2008.

Biblical background

The biblical reference for the Jesus Trail is based on a verse from the

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

of Matthew wherein at the start of

' public ministry he is described as moving from his home-town of

, located in the hills of the

, down to Capernaum which was a lakeside fishing village on the Sea of Galilee, where

is described as gathering his first disciples. The account is also related in the two other

synoptic gospels The gospels of Gospel of Matthew, Matthew, Gospel of Mark, Mark, and Gospel of Luke, Luke are referred to as the synoptic Gospels because they include many of the same stories, often in a similar sequence and in similar or sometimes identical ...

of Mark and Luke. The reference in the

Gospel of Matthew The Gospel of Matthew is the first book of the New Testament of the Bible and one of the three synoptic Gospels. It tells the story of who the author believes is Israel's messiah (Christ (title), Christ), Jesus, resurrection of Jesus, his res ...

reads: "Leaving Nazareth, he went and lived in Capernaum which was by the lake." (Matthew 4:13). According to the Gospels, Capernaum became the home base for Jesus' ministry: "And getting into a boat he crossed over and came to his own city eferring to Capernaum" (Matthew 9:1); also: "And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home." (Mark 2:1).

Management

The trail is currently managed and promoted largely by the work of volunteers, and is a non-profit project. The trail is public and free for anyone who wants to hike and camp along its course. The Jesus Trail is marked with a blaze of three stripes painted on rocks along the way, white, orange, and white. When portions of the Jesus Trail combine with other trails, such as the Israel National Trail, an additional orange circle is added to the previous trail marker. All marking of the trail was completed by the public Israel Trails Committee (ITC), which works in conjunction with the

Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (, ''HaHevra LeHaganat HaTeva''), or SPNI, is an Israeli non-profit environmental organization working to preserve plants, animals, and natural environments that represent bio-diversity, by protectin ...

(SPNI). Trail maintenance and cleaning up has been a combined effort of international, national, and local organizations including JNF-KKL (The Jewish National Fund), the Fauzi Azar Inn in Nazareth, village schools, and international volunteers. On the official Jesus Trail Homepage Maoz Inon and David Landis explain the Jesus Trail philosophy: "We hope that travelers of diverse religious and ethnic backgrounds will gain a new understanding of the life of Jesus through the people and land that shaped his historical context along the Jesus Trail. Today, encounters on the trail still serve as opportunities to extend and receive hospitality with diverse groups of people. Modern travelers can practice living simply and traveling light, gaining wisdom from the spirit of Jesus’ words from Mark 6:8-9: 'Take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bread, no bag, no money in your belts. Wear sandals but not an extra tunic'". The Jesus Trail was designed in the tradition of

trails around the world, such as the ''Camino de Santiago de Compostela'' (the

Way of Saint James The Camino de Santiago (, ; ), or the Way of St. James in English, is a network of pilgrims' ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostle James in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tr ...

) in northern Spain and the Saint Paul Trail in Turkey. The medieval practice of religious

has seen a resurgence in recent years, with almost 200,000 hikers per year on the ''Camino de Santiago'' in the first decade of the 21st century.

Target group

The trail is geared for Christians who seek a pilgrimage route that allows for a more personal experience of the

and sites from the life of Jesus, but integrates historical sites from different eras, sites sacred to other religions, nature sites, breathtaking panoramas and hiking for those who seek a physical challenge. The Gospel Trail is a similar hiking path that opened in November 2011 to attract Christian tourism to Israel, which accounts for two-thirds of all incoming tourism.

Sections of the trail

The geography and distances involved naturally allow the Jesus Trail to be walked as a series of day-hikes for a total of four days, with each day's hike being between in length. * 1st Day: Nazareth to Cana via Sepphoris * 2nd Day: Cana to Kibbutz Lavi * 3rd Day: Kibbutz Lavi to Moshav Arbel * 4th Day: Moshav Arbel to Capernaum via Mount of Beatitudes

Details of the four sections

* Day 1: Nazareth to Cana via Sepphoris – The trail starts in center of Nazareth at the Church of the Annunciation, goes through the Old City of Nazareth and then ascends via steep stairways to the ridge overlooking the city. From there the trail goes out into agricultural fields towards the extensively excavated ancient city of Tsippori (Sepphoris). After passing through the Arab village of Mash'had the trail arrives at Kafr Kanna, the traditional site of the New Testament account of Jesus turning water into wine. * Day 2: Cana to Kibbutz Lavi – After leaving Cana, the trail goes almost entirely along forests and through natural and cultivated fields to end at the outskirts of the modern Jewish agricultural commune (Hebrew: ''kibbutz'') of Lavi, which is located near the hill of the Horns of Hattin. * Day 3: Kibbutz Lavi to Moshav Arbel – This hike goes from hilltop to hilltop, from the panoramic view at the Horns of Hattin, past the

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

shrine of Nabi Shu'ayb in the small Arbel Valley, through striking scenery of a historically dense landscape, to end near the Jewish agricultural cooperative (Hebrew: ''moshav'') of Arbel. * Day 4: Moshav Arbel to Capernaum via Mount of Beatitudes – After ascending Mount Arbel there is a climb down the cliff to come out on a small fertile agricultural plain adjacent to the lake known as the Sea of Galilee (Kinneret). Then the trail arrives at the northern shore of the lake to the church at Tabgha which commemorates the New Testament account of Jesus feeding the multitudes, then to the church and gardens at the Mount of Beatitudes, which commemorates the

Sermon on the Mount The Sermon on the Mount ( anglicized from the Matthean Vulgate Latin section title: ) is a collection of sayings spoken by Jesus of Nazareth found in the Gospel of Matthew (chapters 5, 6, and 7). that emphasizes his moral teachings. It is th ...

, and then arriving at the ancient lakeside fishing village of Capernaum with its extensive ruins and modern church.

References

External links

*
American Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel

Nazareth Village: Open-air museum that reconstructs and reenacts village life in 1st Century Galilee
{{coord missing, Israel Christian pilgrimages Christian terminology Hiking trails in Israel Galilee in the New Testament Cana Nazareth Jesus