8th March: The old city of Nazareth

Among the many advantages of our B&B was its offer of a free tour of the old city. It started with a presentation about the house we were staying in by the grand-daughter of Fauzi Azar, after whom the B&Bis named. Fauzi was a wealthy Palestinian who stayed in the city to protect his house while most of his family had left to Syria following the war of 1967. Built in the 18th century, this rich Arab mansion featured beautiful 18th century frescoes, including one in our bedroom, what a luxury!

The Fauzi Azar Inn, our B&B

Ceiling in the main room

Fresco in our room

The speaker was very enthusiastic, understandably, and she spoke for quite some time, rather stretching John's limited attention span and compelling our tour guide to rush through the remaining places on the tour. After a quick stroll around the streets of the old city we entered the "White Mosque", so-called as it is a symbol of religious tolerance. We talked to the very friendly Imam who had decided that football was a better subject than politics. Somehow he got very excited when he learnt that some people in the group were from Italy; France and England did not quite raise as much interest surprisingly.

Quiet street in the old city

Near the B&B

The White Mosque, in the middle of the market

Interior of the mosque

Walking down through the market, we left the narrow streets of the old city and arrived in front of the imposing Basilica of the Annunciation (it is built on the place where Angel Gabriel is believed by Roman Catholics to have visited Mary to let her know that she would bear the son of God). That's where we decided to leave the tour which was already marching away to the next stop. We realised that we would have more time to visit the places we wanted to see if we went on our own.

Main facade of the Basilica

Dome of the Basilica

The modern Basilica was imposing, and not so inviting. The grey cement walls had been left untouched, which did not bring much light in, and they must have been in the progress of maintenance work on the organ as it was emitting shrieking noises. At least lively mosaics of the Virgin Mary coming from all over the world were displayed on the walls of the otherwise rather austere interior. This was our first experience of the busloads of tourists/pilgrims that we would see everywhere in the Holy Land, but we managed to avoid them here with relative ease. Next to the Basilica was St Joseph's Church, which is believed to have been built over the carpentry shop of Joseph. We were able to go down to the caves where we saw ruins dating from the 1st century AD.

Interior of the Basilica

Mosaic of the Virgin donated by Japan, the nicest we found

Ruins under the Basilica

St Joseph Church, much brighter

Ruins from the 1st century AD under St Joseph's Church

We wanted to visit the nearby Sisters of Nazareth Convent, but it turned out to be closed. Instead, we climbed up to a lookout over the city, which offered us a great panorama.

View of the historical centre of the city

Back down in the old city, we visited the sites sacred for the Greek Orthodox church. They believe that the Annunciation took place while Mary was drawing water from a well, now called Mary's Well. A small church, known as the Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation (or St Gabriel's Church), was built over a passageway to the spring. We managed to reach the spring by making our way down some steps past the numerous worshippers (mostly Russian, it seemed), and found that many coins had been thrown into the spring. About 50 metres outside of the church we found Mary's Well, which was surprisingly not very well maintained.

Greek Orthodox Church of the Annunciation

Beautiful interior of the church

The modern version of Mary's Well

That was probably enough religious sites for the day. Before lunch, we walked into a shop selling spices, nuts, and dried fruit. We were allowed to sample all of the merchandise, which served as an excellent starter. It was also a good business tactic as we left with quite a few bags full of tasty nuts and dried fruit.

Some of the many spices

We did  not know many of the spices on sale

Other attractions included a reconstitution of Nazareth Village, with actors wearing clothing of the time ("see Nazareth as Jesus saw it"). Although the Lonely Planet assured us that it did not compare to a tacky theme park, we decided to give it a miss. We went back to the B&B where we enjoyed coffee and freshly-baked cake (yet another quality of the B&B) before heading to the bus stop to catch a bus to Afula. In the end we shared a taxi with a student to the main bus station in Afula, from where we took a bus to Jerusalem. 

John and his rucksack in the old souq

By the bus station lots of teenagers were wearing fancy dress, and we learnt from the taxi driver that it was Purim (a Jewish celebration). Another interesting but contrasting outfit was that worn by young soldiers, aged 18-20, who walked around wearing their military uniform with large rifles hanging casually from their shoulders. Many were on our bus, presumably heading back home from camp for the weekend.

Sexy fancy dress in the streets of Afula

More fancy dress and party

Two hours later we reached the main bus station of Jerusalem. After passing security, we entered the huge commercial centre to get some information about buses into town. It was bursting with people, probably shopping for the celebration. We ended up taking the tram, which was very quick. Just around the corner, past Damascus Gate, we found the Nablus road and arrived at the French convent where we would be spending the next few days.