debandfredseeingtheworld: Making our way to Bethlehem

We left Tiberias (Galilee) travelling through the Rift Valley to Jericho with the Moab Mountains on the east side. The valley is very fertile with a lot of agriculture being very prevalent. As we arrived in Jericho, the Judean Desert became the landscape. We took a cable car up Mount of Temptation to visit the Monastery of Temptation. The caves on the mountain are said to be caves where Jesus lived, fasted and prayed for forty days and nights. The view of Jericho from the top cable car station was beautiful.

The Monastery of Temptation is a 12th century Greek Orthodox monastery, which sits in the rocks at the traditional site where Jesus was tempted by satan.

Entrance to the monastery

Inside the monastery

Bethlehem is relatively a small city, spread out on steep hills. So in saying that you climb up and down cobbled streets and hundreds of steps. Bethlehem is a Christian city but has been isolated by the Israeli's security wall around the city.

The Security Wall surrounds Bethlehem. On the Israeli side, there's nothing but the odd scrawled slogan, but on the Palestinian side, there are bright, pictorial and word slogans, which have appeared as a testament to Bethlehem's gradual imprisonment.

Travelling 1 kl outside of Bethlehem we came to Shepherd's Fields. It is said the angel appeared before the shepherds tending their flocks by night and announced the birth of Christ. Those shepherds in the fields by the village went to visit Jesus in his manger.

Church at The Shepherd's Fields

Inside the church

The Church of the Nativity located in Manger Square is one of the oldest functioning churches. The church sits on top of the Grotto of the Nativity where Jesus is said to have been born. The Chapel of the Manger is a year round nativity scene.