Around it, the seven virtues (justice, charity, prudence, faith, fortitude, hope and temperance) are depicted by symbols in the mosaic floor. The centrally placed altar is surmounted by a slender arch of alabaster and onyx.
The eight sides of the light and airy church represent the eight beatitudes, and these are also shown in Latin in the upper windows. It was built in 1938 for a Franciscan order of nuns, to a design by Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi - and partly financed by the Italian fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. The Church of the Beatitudes, an elegant octagonal building with colonnaded cloisters, blends into the slope rather than dominating it. Its ruins have been discovered downhill from the present church.Ĭhurch of the Beatitudes () The cragginess of this hill meant it was left uncultivated and enabled Jesus to gather large crowds around him without causing damage to the farmers.”Ī Byzantine church was erected nearby in the 4th century, and it was used until the 7th century. The hillcrest of Eremos indeed offers a magnificent view over the entire lake and the surrounding villages. She tells of a cave in the hillside at the Seven Springs, near Tabgha, “upon which the Lord ascended when he taught the Beatitudes”.Īrchaeologist Bargil Pixner says: “The terrace above this still existing cave, called Mughara Ayub, must be considered the traditional place of the Sermon on the Mount.
The 4th-century pilgrim Egeria records a tradition that may go back to the Jewish-Christians of Capernaum. The spacious slope of the Mount of Beatitudes (also known as Mount Eremos, a Greek word meaning solitary or uninhabited) would have provided ample space for a large crowd to gather to hear Jesus. Sea of Galilee from the cave of Eremos (© Don Schwager) The Mount of Beatitudes is also understood to be the place where Jesus met his apostles after his Resurrection and commissioned them to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:16-20). Pilgrims commemorate the event at the eight-sided Church of the Beatitudes, built on the slope of the mount and accessible by a side road branching off the Tiberias-Rosh Pina highway. The exact site of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1-7:28) is unknown. Just below is Sower’s Cove, where it is believed Jesus taught the Parable of the Sower (Mark 4:1-9) from a boat moored in the bay. Within sight are the scenes of many of the events of Jesus’ ministry in Galilee, including the town of Capernaum 3km away, where he made his home. Overlooking the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, it offers an enchanting vista of the northern part of the lake and across to the cliffs of the Golan Heights on the other side. The Mount of Beatitudes, believed to be the setting for Jesus’ most famous discourse, the Sermon on the Mount, is one of the most beautifully serene places in the Holy Land. Cloister of Beatitudes church overlooking Sea of Galilee ()
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