Synagogue Church (Nazareth)
The Synagogue Church is a small Christian church in the heart of Nazareth known by this name due to a tradition claiming that it is the location where the village synagogue stood in Jesus' time. Above its doorway is an embedded sign in Arabic and English: "Synagogue".
The structure is administered by the Melkite Greek Catholic Church.
History
[edit]In 570, an Italian visitor described Nazareth's synagogue, and reported that the original Bible was still there, including the bench where Jesus used to sit.[1]
The floor of the Synagogue Church is sunken about 1.5 meters underground, possibly built atop a Crusader church dating from the 12th century.
The church was under the control of the Franciscans until the 18th century, when the ruler Zahir al-Umar passed it to the Greek Catholics. In 1887, the Melkite Greek Catholic parish church of the Annunciation was built adjacent to the Synagogue Church.
Christian tradition
[edit]According to Christian tradition, the church is built on the ruins of the ancient Nazareth synagogue where Jesus studied and prayed.
Significance
[edit]Little is known of the years Jesus spent in Nazareth, leading scholars[2] to describe this time as "the hidden life" or "the silent years". It is thus all the more significant for Christian visitors to find a lone place where such silence is broken – the Synagogue Church.
See also
[edit]- Greek Catholic Church of Nazareth
- Melkite Greek Catholic Archeparchy of Akka
- Catholic Church in Israel
